Subject to the availability of funds, the State Department of Education and the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, working in cooperation, shall:
1. Develop and implement programs to identify talented students and recruit those students and other persons into the teaching profession. Persons targeted for recruitment may include anyone eligible for lawful employment;
2. Develop and distribute materials that emphasize the importance of the teaching profession and inform individuals about state-funded loan forgiveness and tuition assistance programs;
3. Give priority to developing and implementing recruitment programs to address the areas of teacher shortage identified and the recommendations made in the educator supply-and-demand study as required by Section 6-211 of Title 70 of the Oklahoma Statutes. The Department may use discretionary funds to carry out the provisions of this paragraph;
4. Encourage cooperation between the business community and school districts to develop recruitment programs designed to attract and retain capable teachers, including programs to provide summer employment opportunities for teachers; and
5. Encourage major education associations to cooperate in developing a long-range program promoting teaching as a prestigious, respected and desirable career and to assist in identifying local activities and resources that may be used to promote the teaching profession.
Added by Laws 2017, c. 149, § 1, eff. July 1, 2017.