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Legislation has been passed this month to streamline the processes for Oklahomans to become certified teachers. House Bill 3658 was signed into last week, a bill which was authored by Republican Rep. Danny Sterling of Tecumseh.

HB3658 removes the requirement that teacher candidates must pass the general education portion of the Oklahoma Teacher Preparation Act. Candidates must still successfully complete the subject area portion of the examination in their desired area of specialization.

"Schools across the state continue to face a teacher shortage, and many of them have dozens of open positions with few qualified applicants," said Sterling, a former principal of Tecumseh High School.

The bill came with an attached emergency clause and went into effect immediately.