Edison Prep Students Worry About Tulsa Teacher Shortage

20 teachers were absent at Edison Preparatory Friday, and some students in Green Country are worried about their education.

The school said it didn't have enough substitute teachers, so a bunch of classes got combined into one large room.

Some students are saying something needs to be done.

Students at Edison High School said this isn't the first time they've had to combine classes because of lack of teachers.

“It’s definitely something TPS needs to look at,” said Senior Grace Van Hofwegen.

Hofwegen is a senior at Edison High School and said she's seen a big change in the past few years. 

“A lot of teachers have left just because of the lack of pay. Teachers are leaving every year and I know more are going to be leaving and switching to different schools and different states. it’s sad,” she said. 

According to TPS, over 20 Teachers were absent from school Friday, so several different classes had to be combined into one room with one teacher. 

“It was maybe six or seven classes that didn't have a teacher, so it was just that one sub that wasn't even a teacher to watch all those classes,” said Senior Rylee Neal. 

Tulsa Public Schools said because of the teacher shortage, it's difficult to fill vacancies when a teacher calls out.  

A statement from TPS said, “One of the unfortunate realities of our teacher shortage means that when a number of teachers are out, we may not have enough certified staff to cover the absences. Additionally, like other Oklahoma districts, we continue to face a shortage of substitute teachers. This means that there may be times when schools have to use “study hall” style classes to ensure that all students are supervised for that period.”

“I just hope that more people can get jobs to be teachers so we can have more people to teach us,” Neal said.  

A shortage that students are seeing the impact of first hand.

“If we don’t have enough teachers to teach all these students then what are we going to do? Is our education just going to go down the drain because we don't have enough people to teach us,” said Neal.

Some parents said they too are concerned about the lack of teachers but also hope something can be done to make teachers want to stay here at Edison.