With all of the talk about “reforming” education in recent days, it seems the right time to talk about an issue facing many of our school districts: Minnesota’s teacher shortage.
Half of all teachers quit teaching permanently within the five years of starting their teaching career. The time and money invested by these individuals to pursue this career sometimes just isn’t enough to keep them in the classroom beyond an initial first effort.
Teachers may leave because it isn’t a good fit, they decide to choose a different career path, or they find it more challenging than they expected. Many leave because they don’t make enough money to pay their student debt.
Our legislative efforts should be focused on what we can do to keep teachers teaching and providing them the assistance and mentoring necessary to stick with it until the rewards (not just the pitfalls) are experienced.
For the last 15 years the state has cut funding for higher education resulting in high tuition bills and excessive debt loads. In looking to address budget shortfalls, one “go-to” solution seemed to be college students. By raising tuition to meet the ongoing University needs, the state captured money to shore up the budget shortfalls. The university system would continue to operate and students could just pay a little more. Budget after budget, students had to pay more, take out more loans, or make the decision to not go to college.
For some students who wanted to get an education degree, student debt was piled too high. The average starting salary for a teacher is $34,000 which roughly matches the average college student’s debt load. It is difficult to pay off student loans, start a family, buy a car, and invest in a house. The cost vs benefit means many new college graduates quickly consider a career choice other than teaching in order to pay their bills.
Last Thursday the House Republicans passed one of their top priorities, House File (HF) 2, which changes how teachers are treated and mandates school district’s criteria when determining an unrequested leave or layoff. Unfortunately HF 2 doesn’t address the underlining problems we have getting and keeping qualified teachers in the classroom in Minnesota.
There are a number of things we can do to remedy the teacher shortage. To begin with we can continue the two-year tuition freeze in place during the past two years. Students have paid their fair share. By limiting college costs, students (and their families) would be able to catch their breath after years of tuition hikes. These tuition increases mean an ongoing student debt dealing a crushing blow to students who choose to teach.
Once we do get teachers in the classroom we need to provide them with the support they need to build their skills. Teachers, like students, develop over time. Mentoring and collaboration are effective strategies. Quality administrators are essential to helping grow and develop new teachers. Unfortunately years of budget cuts to E-12 education left a crippling impact on many school district’s bottom line and disrupted a principal’s ability to manage and develop new teachers.
Principals also need to have the tools to do the job. Without this help, they cannot address or help fix problems a teacher may be having. When a principal has the time to evaluate teachers they can address issues by providing additional guidance, training and support. Already there is a place for improvement plans and in the case of a teacher unable to improve, the steps can be taken to dismiss the teacher.
Quality teachers and administrators are important to maintain our high standards in Minnesota. Fixing the teacher shortage will take a variety of solutions. I am hopeful this legislature will be willing to consider how best to do that without devaluing teachers in the process.