Department working on education equity plan

TULSA, Okla. (AP) – The Oklahoma Department of Education is working on a plan to ensure equitable access to excellent educators in state classrooms.

The Tulsa World reports all states were asked to develop an Educator Equity Plan as part of a federal initiative last summer. The state’s plan must be submitted to the U.S. Department of Education by June 1.

The plan will calculate equity gaps between the rates that minority and impoverished children are taught by inexperienced, unqualified or out-of-field teachers compared to rates in which other children are taught by those teachers. The plan must also include an analysis of the root cause of these gaps and identify steps to eliminate the gaps and measures to evaluate progress.

State Superintendent Joy Hofmeister says part of the solution is teacher retention.