Over 600 New Oklahoma Teachers After Emergency Certification

There are 631 new Oklahoma teachers today after the State Board of Education approved a record number of emergency teaching certifications. That's nearly twice as many as last July. 

121 were renewals and 115 of the applicants have advanced degrees, but only a small percentage have any prior teaching experience. 

"Only 27 percent hold some form of credential in teaching. Whether it's out of state or whether it's in another field, but not in the field we're needing emergency certification," said Joy Hofmeister. 

Department of Education officials say, typically August is when they get the most emergency certification requests.