Amidst a years-long, statewide substitute teacher shortage, several OKC metro school districts updated News 9 on their substitute teacher status on Monday.

The language, however, has shifted. Several of the districts are now using the term ‘guest teacher’ instead of ‘substitute teacher’.

"If you referred to them as substitute teachers, your morale, the treatment, the stigma of it really weighs on people that choose to do this really important work,” said a spokesperson for Putnam City Schools.

Like other districts in the metro area, Putnam City Schools chose the term ‘guest teachers’ for a variety of reasons.

"Guest teachers are critical in our district for maintaining our operations and keeping the flow of learning for our students going in the absence of full-time teachers. So, we re

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