This week’s blog is a follow up to last week’s “Top Five Issues Facing Education in Mississippi.” As I pointed out last week, I decided to cover topics that were trending the most. This helped me stay as unbiased as possible since the issues I personally may face may be very different than statewide issues.
I want to thank everyone for the feedback on last week’s post. Because of your feedback, I chose to research one of the mentioned issues – teacher shortages – from my social media comments.
I agree with this being a dire issue; however, the real questions may be: Why is this issue not trending? Why is this not the issue on everyone’s mind? How does this not appear in the top five trending issues facing educators?
This Is Troubling
I’m not sure I can answer WHY it’s not trending, but here is the TROUBLING news I found as I researched:
- Teacher shortages are CONTINUING to get worse across the nation
- As bad as those shortages are, shortages are far greater in critical areas of special education, mathematics, and
upper level sciences - Compensation, teacher turnover, working conditions, and qualifications are all determining factors in the shortage
- Teacher shortages are being linked to Mississippi school districts losing their accreditation
- Schools are hiring unqualified teachers, using computer modules, and over-filling classroom to combat the shortag
Can You Imagine?
Aren’t you comforted by a computer teaching your child? Or your child being taught by someone who might be described as the idiom “a warm body?”
I have zero doubt everyone wants their child taught by highly-qualified, intelligent, and excited educators. But, why aren’t they?
Why Is There A Shortage?
Teacher qualifications is a major hurdle. No inspired teacher is running from a challenge, but if you were confronted with a choice of 21+ hours of collegiate math, 21+ hours of collegiate level physics, 21+ hours of collegiate level chemistry, or qualifying to teach elementary level phonics and math, which one are you going to choose?
I do not mean to belittle any field, but not many are standing in line to take trigonometry, calculus, and statistics in college.
Compensation cannot be ignored either. Teacher salaries lag behind other fields. A “cost of living adjustment” is an unknown concept to educators while Congress raised their own salaries 10 times between the years 1998-2009.
Conclusion
I could continue naming and describing other factors but this blog would stretch far beyond a comfortable read.
The bottom line is teacher shortages are a serious problem and very few are willing to talk about it.
Leave a comment if you have a reason for this being so hush-hush or leave a comment if you have a solution.
References:
“Mississippi’s teacher shortage leads to accreditation trouble for some districts”
“Salaries of Members of Congress: Recent Actions and Historical Tables”
“Teacher shortages an ongoing problem in MS”
“Teacher shortages worsening in majority of US states, study reveals”
The shortages show up in areas that have no “draw” mostly. Young teachers don’t want to go somewhere that the only entertainment is what’s on special at the local Piggly Wiggly. Why are these shortages not trending, because most of the schools that are experiencing the shortages are not teaching people’s children who know how to get the word out. Not only do they not have teachers, they have no texts, no heat, and no encouragement. Sorry for the length but this is one topic that is very near and dear to my heart.
No apologies needed! Thanks for your thoughts. I will always respect your input. You taught me a lot.