Dive Brief:
- Several states, including Arizona and Kansas, still have hundreds of open teaching positions with the start of the school year looming.
- As bad as things look in some parts of the country, they aren’t likely to improve any time soon as enrollment in teacher training programs continues to drop.
- The crisis has forced districts to examine the root causes behind their shortages, which typically include low pay, a lack of tenure protection, and highly polarized education politics.
Dive Insight:
The shortages have driven districts to look beyond their usual hiring strategies. In Arizona, for example, where more than 1,000 teaching positions were still open at the end of last month, even smaller districts have started recruiting nationally. For example, Cave Creek Unified School District, which has just 5,400 students, tried to attract teachers from across the country with a $4,000 signing bonus.
The shortages could also drive teacher training programs and districts closer together. In Denver, some training programs already work with the city to make sure teacher trainees are well prepared for the district’s needs. The practice gives those candidates a leg up when applying to schools in the district. Programs can also work with districts to provide candidates a guaranteed slot in a district school if they meet certain benchmarks.
Fixing the underlying problems may prove more challenging. “I don’t know who will be teaching kids in the future,” Bill McDiarmed, dean of the University of North Carolina School of Education. The economic uptick, school funding cutbacks and the vitriol surrounding education changes have converged to make the profession less appealing than other alternatives. District administrators and state officials can work to buffer teachers from the effects of political maneuvering, but it’s hard to avoid the wider conversation around the future of education in America.