* Chalkbeat…
Teacher and staff shortages exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic are making it harder for Illinois school districts to find qualified teachers – especially for special education and bilingual positions, according to a new survey.
Of the Illinois school leaders from 690 school districts surveyed, 73% say they have a teacher shortage problem, 93% say the shortage is as bad or worse than last school year, 95% report receiving the same or fewer applicants for vacant positions, and 92% say they have a substitute teacher program. School leaders also said those who do apply for open roles aren’t qualified for the position. […]
Across the state, the study found that 2,728 teacher, special education, and support staff positions were either vacant or filled with someone less qualified. While schools across Illinois are struggling to fill positions, towns and rural areas especially in east-central and west-central Illinois had more vacancies. […]
The survey found that 68% of school leaders believe incentivizing teachers to get additional endorsements will have a positive effect on recruiting and retaining teachers. To get students into the teacher pipeline and into classrooms, school leaders suggested scholarships for students, additional compensation for staff in high-need areas like special education, and increased funding for pension plans. […]
[Mark Klaisner, president of the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools] and other education advocates are asking the state to invest $550 million in the state’s evidence-based funding formula “to give schools the money they need for professional development for additional education.”
Click here and you’ll see this problem is national. Shortages are reported everywhere.
* Nebraska…
The surveyed revealed that the majority of unfilled and/or vacant positions were special education (19% unfilled), elementary education (15% unfilled) and career education areas (12% unfilled).
* Kentucky…
Despite increases in funding at the state level for the next two years, the Commonwealth of Kentucky has 11,000 teaching positions still open in the state’s public schools. After decades of disheartening politics, the politicization of everything in schools, from bathrooms to books, low salaries, and rampant violence, college students aren’t choosing teaching as a career. […]
According to reports, 72% of the state’s teachers are either 5 years from retirement or, in their first five years of teaching, a very high turnover time. The 11,000 missing teachers represent about a quarter of the state’s total teaching workforce.
So, what are states doing about it?
* Georgia…
To meet the need, Georgia is considering taking part in the federal Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact. It would validate teaching licenses across state lines, so teachers wouldn’t have to get a new license if they moved states.
* AP…
Every Colorado school district, like many across the country, began 2023 understaffed. That’s caused classes to be crammed together, school bus routes to shrink, Spanish language courses to get cut from curriculums, and field trips to be nixed.
This has prompted lawmakers in Colorado and other states to suggest legislation that would get rid of relicensing requirements for teachers when they move across state lines — an oftentimes cumbersome and costly process of waiting periods, licensing fees, and expensive exams. […]
Nine other statehouses are considering joining the compact, including Hawaii, Washington, Kansas, Georgia and Mississippi. For the compact to take effect, 10 states must approve it.
The national teacher shortage, exacerbated by deep losses during the pandemic, has left states scrambling to hire and retain educators. It’s pushed school districts across the South to accept candidates without teaching certificates or formal training to staunch the losses.
More info on the compact is here.
* Staying with Colorado…
State lawmakers advanced a bill this week to expand the state’s Temporary Educator Loan Forgiveness program, which was established with COVID-19 relief money and set to expire. The state senate will take up the expansion proposal next.
Lawmakers in the state house also voted to discuss establishing educator license reciprocity with several other states in an effort to allow teachers new to Colorado to more easily enter the state’s classrooms.
[Robert Gould, president of the Denver Classroom Teacher Association] said both proposals will help, but neither will entirely fix the school funding issue. He said the state needs to free up more money to fully fund schools and increase teacher salaries.
But he said there’s a broader problem too: Many students today do not want to become teachers.
On that last point, here’s a press release from the Language Learning Network…
The teaching profession was once revered and considered noble for its critical role in shaping the minds of our young people and helping them develop the skills needed to succeed in life. It is now the profession that so many new and veteran teachers are leaving. However, this change did not happen overnight. The COVID-19 pandemic, overt acts of violence, and heightened and emboldened bigotry catalyzed the already-terrible circumstances under which teachers are expected to work. Teachers are simply left with two choices: continue to endure abuse or leave education. For once, teachers are prioritizing themselves and leaving their chosen profession that clearly is not choosing them. Although the problems are apparent, the education system and country continue to cry teacher “shortage” instead of giving teachers what they need and deserve.
* Connecticut…
In an effort to combat the state and nationwide teacher shortage, the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education has increased enrollment and expanded its program locations.
“We’ve heard from many alumni and schools across the state and their requests for support as they battle these shortages,” Neag School Dean Jason G. Irizarry said in a press release. ” The interest in and applications for our teacher education program is high, and we’re doing everything possible to expand the pool of highly qualified teachers to meet the needs of Connecticut’s schools.”
* Pennsylvania…
A new report on Pennsylvania’s teacher shortage recommends sweeping changes, affecting how teachers are prepared, paid and retained, and advocates solutions that address not only the problem but also its root causes across the system.
Student teachers should get paid, and Pennsylvania should explore models that would make it free for college students to become teachers. There should be closer partnerships between school districts and colleges, a better assessment of teacher preparation programs, and higher pay for teachers who serve as mentors.
These were among the remedies resulting from a teacher shortage summit in Harrisburg last September that drew 150 educators, policymakers and government leaders, including then-Acting Secretary of Education Eric Hagarty.
Policy recommendations…
1. Incentivize high-quality teacher preparation, characterized by rigorous coursework and intentionally designed clinical experiences developed in partnership with local education agencies.
2. Invest in teacher retention through well-defined career ladders.
3. Expand pathways into teaching for youth and paraprofessionals.
4. Improve the financial value proposition for becoming a teacher.
5. Improve data collection to allow for targeted investments in the teacher pipeline.
* CNN…
The National Council On Teacher Quality told CNN that over the last two years, 23 states have lowered teacher qualification requirements for beginning teachers. That includes lowering or removing assessment tests designed to determine whether teachers have a firm grasp on the subject they will teach and creating emergency teaching certificates to expedite candidates into the classroom without a teaching degree.
Arizona, Florida and Oklahoma have created new pathways for people without a bachelor’s degree to teach in classrooms. […]
Linda Darling Hammond, president of the Learning Policy Institute, an education research and policy advocacy group, says state efforts to repeal teacher qualification requirements will only exacerbate the teacher shortage.
“When states respond to shortages by reducing standards rather than increasing salaries and improving working conditions, what they’re doing is creating a vicious cycle. They get people in who are underprepared. Those people leave at two to three times the rate of those who have come in with preparation.”
Hammond says at the same time the quality of education for students suffers. “You’re undermining student achievement.”
…Adding… Teach Plus Illinois released this study about special educator retention…
Findings
1. Special education teachers want effective mentorship and continued professional development throughout their careers.
2. Increasingly heavy workloads result in lack of time to fulfill duties and responsibilities and deteriorating mental health for special education teachers.
3. School administrators do not have a comprehensive understanding of special education teachers’ responsibilities and duties.
4. Educator preparation programs do not adequately prepare special education teachers for non-instructional parts of their job such as writing Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and successful collaboration.
Recommendations
District leaders and elected officials should:
1. School districts should provide a robust mentoring program with at least two years of mentorship for special education teachers.
2. Districts should increase pay for special education staff and create additional positions to reduce workload.
3. School administrators should be trained to understand special education teachers’ duties and incorporate their suggestions regarding student needs.
4. ISBE should require more classroom field experience, training in managing IEPs and paperwork, and practice in collaborating with peers as part of special education preparation programs.
- Grimlock - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 12:04 pm:
My spouse teaches middle school. At least once a year she will contact a parent about an issue with the kid and be told “well I’ll get my kid’s side of the story.” Or the parent will just tear into my spouse right from the start for bothering them. We, as a society, need to work on setting expectations for not just the kids, but their parents too. And when the kid doesn’t want to meet those expectations, we need to stop letting them affect the learning of all the other kids. If we can figure out a way to address those issues, fewer teachers will walk away.
- Retired School Board Member - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 12:11 pm:
If you want to address the teacher shortage, create a workplace where teachers want to work. Treat them with respect. Stop the micromanagement. Collaborate. Cooperate. Stop feeding into the us versus them paradigm between school boards and teachers’ unions. Not only are we driving current teachers from our classrooms, we driving future teachers away too. Our high school students have a ring side seat to these future workplaces and they see no appeal in returning to classrooms as teachers because they see how administration treats educators. Even the children of teachers have zero interest in enrolling in teaching programs in college because what they see their own parents going through day in and day out. We need to completely overhaul the culture in our schools if we EVER hope to attract high quality educators into our classrooms. End the adversarial relationship with the IFT and the NEA.
- Blue Dog - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 12:13 pm:
change the pension system to mirror that as law enforcement.
- JJJJJJJJJJ - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 12:15 pm:
@Retired School Board Member
“Our high school students have a ring side seat to these future workplaces and they see no appeal in returning to classrooms as teachers because they see how administration treats educators. Even the children of teachers have zero interest in enrolling in teaching programs in college because what they see their own parents going through day in and day out.”
I simply couldn’t agree more. Very well said.
- Larry Bowa Jr. - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 12:26 pm:
Paying student teachers and streamlining the licensing between states are great ideas. I also don’t think they’ll make much difference. I watched parent after idiot parent in my suburban district step up to denigrate the profession and physically threaten the local school board because their children were asked to wear masks during a pandemic. The lack of respect is profound.
- Flyin' Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 12:33 pm:
So vilifying the profession and constantly threatening their retirement has led to shortages?
I’ll be.
- Jerry - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 12:35 pm:
And don’t be teaching critical race theory. (Sarcasm)
- Norseman - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 12:35 pm:
Done here in ruby red MO, they did a one-year grant program to schools to help with salaries last year. Unsurprisingly, it really didn’t make a huge dent. Now they’re talking about improving on their low paying salaries. Don’t hold your breath with this bunch.
Balancing this is the MAGA GOP full-court culture war attack on teachers.
- Grateful Gail - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 12:35 pm:
Absolutely agree with Retired School Board Member. The lack of respect for teachers is so obvious, and children in the classroom pick up on this. Also, the interference from legislators who usually know nothing about education frustrates teachers, and there is no respect for their opinion when they speak up.
- Lurker - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 12:44 pm:
It’s become a dangerous job that is underfunded and under supported with notoriously low pay from your college education. And the veteran teachers are telling potential teachers that it is getting worse. And it is.
- snowman61 - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 12:49 pm:
Having my wife (parapro- Special needs) and daughter in law (6th grade teacher) involved in education. I have heard their parent/kids stories and the problems they have with the administrators. I even heard some stories about the union causing issues. The more money etc will help but I think what will help more is to create more of a partnership environment between the stake holders instead of being adversaries. However, I admit I do not have an answer as to how we can change the way people treat the teachers and support staff.
- JS Mill - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 12:49 pm:
Many good and spot on comments already:
=Also, the interference from legislators who usually know nothing about education frustrates teachers, and there is no respect for their opinion when they speak up.=
Ditto
=hey did a one-year grant program to schools to help with salaries last year.=
Ditto. Money is important, but salary is not at the top of priorities. The culture and treatment of teachers is.
=So vilifying the profession and constantly threatening their retirement has led to shortages?
I’ll be.=
This is huge. Politicians love to have pictures taken at their local school while depriving schools of the tools they need to be effective, attacking pensions (more important than starting salary) attacking teachers for false rumors calling them groomers or indoctrinators.
=We, as a society, need to work on setting expectations for not just the kids, but their parents too.=
The one group that is never held accountable is parents. All of the so called reformers focus on schools and educators when the most important cog in the wheel is parents. And they are failing massively. MASSIVELY.
= they see how administration treats educators.=
First, administrators are educators as well. 99% were classroom teachers that wanted to have a larger impact on students and moved up to the next level.
Second, if your administrators were not treating staff well when you were on a school board, you should have done something about it.
Admin are not the enemy. That is another false narrative.
- Proud Papa Bear - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 1:03 pm:
I’m neck deep in initiatives related to this. There are many misnomers about the issue and groups are tinkering with this and that (for example, student teachers in Illinois can get paid at the district’s discretion).
However the larger issue is what’s been said by several commenters already: working conditions and a lack of respect.
- Retired School Board Member - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 1:08 pm:
“Second, if your administrators were not treating staff well when you were on a school board, you should have done something about it.
Admin are not the enemy. That is another false narrative.”
You presume wrongly that I didn’t. And you might want to check with some IFT and NEA local union presidents about that being a false narrative. How often administrators deny due process and ignore the CBA is beyond crazy.
“Ditto. Money is important, but salary is not at the top of priorities. The culture and treatment of teachers is.”
Who is exactly is it that is responsible for the culture and the treatment of teachers in buildings?
- cermak_rd - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 1:19 pm:
My sister retired as a special ed teacher at the end of last year’s term. She said that after the pandemic the students and their parents had become impossible to deal with and she just didn’t want to do it anymore. At least at the high school level. She is currently teaching adults who actually want to learn in order to get a GED and improve their lives and is finding that more enjoyable.
- Person 8 - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 1:30 pm:
***The one group that is never held accountable is parents. All of the so called reformers focus on schools and educators when the most important cog in the wheel is parents. And they are failing massively. MASSIVELY.***
One of the main reasons my teachers consider walking away. Not the kids, the parents.
- Rudy’s teeth - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 1:38 pm:
Years ago, women attending college were guided toward education as there was limited opportunity in other professions.
Today, women have opportunities in law, medicine, finance, science, research, IT, and the corporate sector—-the list expands.
Until salaries in education equate with other professions, this shortage will continue.
The first five years in a student’s education (grades 1-5) are crucial as this is where foundational skills in reading and math are taught. Until students are proficient in these areas, they will struggle with future concepts going forward.
As an aside, remove calculators from grades 1-8. It is never about getting the answer but it is about understanding the process.
- Kelly Cassidy - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 1:40 pm:
Five of my six siblings work (or worked) in the Florida Public Schools. Over the last 2 years, 4 of them took early retirement to get away from the state’s war on teachers. The last man standing is just hoping to get through this school year so he’s eligible for early retirement but isn’t sure he will.
- low level - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 1:46 pm:
Dealing w dumb parents and other matters were always part of the job. What’s changed is the Republican Party’s war on teachers. Throw in social media and small wonder there are shortages.
- low level - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 1:48 pm:
(Me an Rep Cassidy had the exact same thought at the same time I see… ).
- Retired School Board Member - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 1:50 pm:
How does government hold parents accountable. I am eager to see what that looks like in practice. It sounds great on a message board, what does “holding parents accountable” look like in policy?
- Rudy’s teeth - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 1:50 pm:
Years ago, women attending college were guided towards education as there was limited opportunity in other professions.
Today, women have opportunities in law, medicine, finance, research, engineering, IT, the corporate sector…the list expands.
Until salaries in education equate with other professions, this will continue.
The first five years in a student’s education (grades 1 - 5) are crucial as this is where foundational skills in reading and math are taught. Until students are proficient in these crucial skills, they will struggle with future concepts going forward.
As an aside, remove calculators from grades 1 - 8. It is not about getting an answer, but about understanding the concept and process.
- Seats - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 1:52 pm:
As a former teacher. Tier 2 has me discouraging everyone I even hear mention the idea of teaching. The climate of schools is not somewhere many teachers can survive until 67.
- DuPage - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 1:56 pm:
@- Blue Dog - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 12:13 pm:
===change the pension system to mirror that as law enforcement.===
Good idea, also go back to Tier 1 and abolish SB7. SB7 made tenure into “tenure in name only”. It allowed unscrupulous administrators to make dishonest teacher evaluations. This allowed them to push older teachers at the high end of the salary scale out so they could hire new teachers at the bottom of the salary scale. Along with all the other problems the teachers have to worry about, they can be thrown overboard for no reason other than having worked their way up the salary scale.
- In_The_Middle - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 2:02 pm:
===change the pension system to mirror that as law enforcement===
Even with the enhanced retirement benefits law enforcement receives, there is a shortage of people interested in entering into police work these days. Can’t say for sure without looking at numbers, but it probably closely mirrors the teacher shortage.
- Techie - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 2:05 pm:
Dale Carnegie famously said, and I paraphrase, “[i]f you want someone to do something, you must make them want to do it.”
Why would anyone WANT to become a teacher in this cultural climate? Get paid less than you could in many other professions, and have the misery of being disrespected by parents, students, and probably staff administration?
We need to pay many teachers a lot more, for starters. Improving working conditions is a lot trickier - certainly politicians could refrain from bashing one of the most important professions in society, but I’m not about to hold my breath on that one. Another thing that may help is to reduce the reliance on standardized testing and give teachers more freedom to teach in ways that make sense for them and their students; teaching for comprehension of subject matter, not the ability to do well on a test.
- Rudy’s teeth - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 2:08 pm:
A favorite parent story: a parent called me at home and berated me for giving her son an F on an essay. Her reason was he turned in an essay…so what?
The “what” is he could not read the essay nor could he pronounce the words that he plagiarized from a source.
The original assignment was to use notes and turn the notes taken in class into an essay. Teaching note taking is an essential skill needed for all classes. His mother wasn’t having it.
- low level - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 2:12 pm:
My sense of it is you could make the pension equal to 5 times your last salary and you would still have shortages due to the constant abuse and lack of support.
I never thought I’d see the day when GOP legislators made an enemy of teachers and the FBI but here we are.
- Captain Obvious - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 2:20 pm:
Seems like only a couple years ago we were told that low salaries were a big factor in the teacher shortage so a law had to be passed to increase them force taxes higher to do so. Didn’t really improve the situation much though did it? Turns out higher pay may not be the key to solving the shortage. So what policy “improvement” that fixes nothing will taxpayers be forever on the hook for now?
- Rich Miller - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 2:23 pm:
=== so a law had to be passed to increase them===
To $40,000.
- A govt employee - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 2:54 pm:
Money would help a little, but the lack of respect for any authority is what is hurting teaching (and law enforcement)
This is true:
“Even with the enhanced retirement benefits law enforcement receives, there is a shortage of people interested in entering into police work these days. Can’t say for sure without looking at numbers, but it probably closely mirrors the teacher shortage.”
As is this for teachers and law enforcement:
“So vilifying the profession and constantly threatening their retirement has led to shortages?”
- Jocko - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 2:58 pm:
==The interest in and applications for our teacher education program is high==
Just wait until these graduates try and teach kids with :30 second attention spans, no respect for adults, and whose idea of ‘homework’ is video games and/or Netflix.
- low level - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 3:03 pm:
==what policy “improvement” that fixes nothing will taxpayers be forever on the hook for now?==
Did you happen to notice that teachers pay taxes also or were you too concerned about the fake kitty litter in school bathrooms non issue?
- A - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 3:05 pm:
For the love of me, I can’t figure out why anyone would be surprised that this (finally!) has happened. For many parents, teachers are the most critically important human being for their child—–but only when that child is in school, in that classroom. Once safely through school, teachers are bums, sucking taxpayer money. Hey–they say—anyone can do it!
Believe it or not, as a former teacher, I would hear some of this (lazy bum, trash) from students.
Echoing what they hear at home, no doubt.
Why would you choose this abuse if you are bright enough to get a college degree and that degree can earn you a position with respect, compensation that doesn’t have you counting pennies at the end of the month and you’re treated as a professional?
My children saw what we endured as teachers, and chose wisely to work in the financial arena. After a handful of years out of college, they are earning an amount that you’d have to teach for 30 years (and attain a Master degree) to earn if you were a teacher. What kind of life does that provide to a teacher’s children?
Our society has brought this upon themselves. Goo d luck with your kids and grandkids.
- Stormsw7706 - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 3:07 pm:
Lack of respect, crazy parents, chronic understaffing, Tier 2, low pay (but improving), limited availability of alternative schools, top heavy administrative positions, lack of consolidation of small districts, and having to put up with new conservative attacks may have something to do with it.
- Crispy - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 3:09 pm:
J.S. Mill @ 2:49. Everything you say is spot-on–except, perhaps, the part about administrators. I’m sure they are not the enemy in your district, but in many places, they appear not to be the friends of teachers, and often they are not the best and the brightest.
A case in point is my west-central Illinois district, where the majority of administrators seem to be gym teachers who taught for a few years, discovered they hated teaching, got their admin certifications, and schmoozed their way into cushy gigs where they have less accountability than the average classroom teacher but are paid three times as much. The superintendent is a martinet (I don’t think that’s a banned word) who failed as a classroom teacher and has been punishing good teachers ever since, preferencing building projects over curriculum, teacher retention or teacher pay, and generally treating the teaching staff with disrespect. (During the pandemic, he actually compared teaching to babysitting.) This goes hand-in-hand with a climate where parents, no matter how irresponsible, are allowed to pressure and harass teachers, who get no backup from administration.
Under his watch, our teachers are now some of the lowest-paid in the region; guess what that does for staffing, retention and student outcomes? A true exemplar of the Dunning-Kruger Effect, he exudes self-confidence, and he has completely bamboozled the school board, which rewarded him with a five-year contract paying an average of a around a quarter million a year (in a community of less than 35,000 people, with a median income of ca. $25,000). It’s a travesty.
Your mileage may vary, but I think it’s safe to say that sometimes, admin definitely is part of the problem.
- btowntruth from forgottonia - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 3:25 pm:
Retired School Board Member for the win.
- Retired School Board Member - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 3:44 pm:
Crazy talk- has anyone asked the rank and file teachers what needs to be done to address the shortage that they have been warning us about for a decade?
- Flapdoodle - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 3:46 pm:
I taught at the university level for 35 years. And they were by and large 35 good, rewarding years. Oh, there were the usual inane administrators, intrusive state and federal regulations, lackadaisical students, and careerist colleagues. But nothing like the constant challenges K-12 teachers face and conditions they must endure. Why anyone would want to put up with that [banned word] is beyond me. Those who do, those who struggle to help children and teens learn and grow, have my greatest respect for doing invaluable work in often very difficult conditions. They’re stronger than I could have been.
- Diogenes in DuPage - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 3:55 pm:
Teacher shortages have traditionally occurred in the midst of “full employment economies” in the U.S. I fear this cycle is different. Post-Covid parent behavior is off the wall. There is a decreasing rate of respect for educators. I’m a parent, grandparent, former teacher, and retired school administrator. I have family working in public education today. It breaks my heart to see and hear about their current work experiences.
It’s all in my book, “Explain to Me Again How Criticizing Your Child’s Teacher Will Improve Their Education.” Apparently, the floggings must continue until morale improves.
- Rudy’s teeth - Friday, Feb 3, 23 @ 4:12 pm:
Our eighth grade team created a plan with the superintendent footing a large portion of the costs of six field trips a year.
The requirement was that there is no fighting/suspensions in school. Every six weeks we evaluated students—who was eligible and who was not. At the conclusion of each trip, all students started with a clean slate so no one was eliminated for the year.
The caveat—if the student was out of line on the trip, he or she was banned from trips for the remaining trips. We took six teachers and 275 fourteen year old students.
The trips included Navy Pier and the IMAX, MSI, United Center for the Ice Show, Lincoln Park Zoo for Earth Day, WrigleyField for a 1:20 game, and the final trip to a Water Park. The students were free to explore in small groups and reminded that we were guests at the sites. Life skills.
The superintendent used funds designed to support as-risk students to stay in school. We had minimal suspensions/expulsions. The climate in classrooms was positive, and we trained student teachers in this environment.
This project required a lot of work and organization but the results were positive. And, parents were never invited as chaperones.