LAWTON — Members of the state Board of Education on Thursday approved 503 requests for emergency teaching certificates in August, a sign Oklahoma's teacher shortage is showing no signs of letting up.

The panel ratified just 500 such certificates last year. Emergency certificates are issued to school districts that lack qualified teaching candidates to fill vacancies.

“The fact that there's 500 this one session ... tells you something,” board member Bill Price said. “It is great that we're doing it, because otherwise we'd really be in deep trouble.

“But it points to things we could do to make it even better. One might be to offer courses on things, like, on classroom management.”