...teacher "distribution" issues worry Bowling Green Ind., Warren Co. superintendents; EPSB chief: enough new educators being created but not for where jobs are
Bowling Green Daily News, April 23, 2017
Teacher shortage affects Kentucky
By AARON MUDD
Like many superintendents across Kentucky, Superintendent Gary Fields of the Bowling Green Independent School District struggles to fill job openings for teachers.
“We’re struggling to find math teachers, science teachers, special education teachers,” Fields said, adding the problem is greatest at the middle and high school levels. “We’re seeing difficulty now, as are other districts.”
Superintendent Rob Clayton of Warren County Public Schools also said his district grapples with filling vacancies each year.
“I firmly believe the best way to improve the situation is to improve our compensation packages and accurately promote what the education profession truly entails,” he said.
But Fields worries the short-term struggle of filling positions could lead districts to hire less qualified candidates or those with little experience in their teaching area.
“That really causes issues, not just for our district, but for all districts around the state,” he said. “If something doesn’t change, … we’re really going to be struggling to fill jobs.”
Jimmy Adams, executive director of Kentucky’s Educational Professional Standards Board, recently told the state’s board of education that the problem comes down to poor distribution and not a shortage of teachers.
“We really don’t have a shortage of teachers right now. We produce enough teachers to fill every position that’s available in Kentucky,” he said, adding the state produced a third more elementary teachers than needed. “The problem that we have is those teachers aren’t willing to go where the jobs are.”
Adding to the issue, many of Kentucky’s teachers are at retirement age.
“One in five teachers are eligible to retire right now,” said Beau Barnes, deputy executive secretary and general counsel for the Kentucky Teachers Retirement System. The system has tried to help retain teachers by educating them on the right time to retire. The system’s seen the retirement age increase by an average of four years, he said.
In March last year, the state standards board examined the issue. It found that, in Kentucky, a little more than 38 percent of student teachers were hired in the district where they completed their student teaching.
Additionally, about 27 percent of educators employed within Kentucky were hired in their district of origin, and 64 percent of individuals who found teaching jobs in Kentucky were employed in the same region as their educator prep program.
Based on those numbers, the board recommended districts host student teachers and work closely with nearby teacher prep programs to help fill their position needs. It also recommended that districts adopt a “grow your own” philosophy to tap into students interested in becoming teachers.
During the board meeting, Adams outlined several ways the EPSB is tackling the issue. It’s assembled a committee to look at other options for teachers to earn their Rank II certification.
Current regulation requires teachers get their Rank II within 10 years. Most do this through a master’s degree track and the only other option is the continuing education option.
“This committee is trying to look at what are other ways we could do this that would be much more cost effective for the educator,” he said.
The board also wants to allow more flexibility in meeting teaching proficiencies, Adams said. Rather than an all or nothing approach, Adams said the board wants to allow teachers to complete some requirements and go on to teach with a provisional certificate while completing the others.
In response to Adams, Education Commissioner Stephen Pruitt discussed the possibility of helping school districts develop their own teachers by recruiting students, although he was hesitant about sharing full details.
“It is looking more like we will articulate in high school the actual college credit hours toward the education degree,” he said at the board meeting. “We’ll give you more details, but we’ve got a couple things we’re still working on so I’m hesitant to say a whole lot out in public.”
Sam Evans, dean of Western Kentucky University’s College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, said student teachers often return home after graduating.