CDHE addresses educator shortage

MONTE VISTA— An educator shortage is causing a crisis throughout much of Colorado. This crisis is especially pronounced in rural Colorado. The Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE) and the Colorado Department of (CDE) Education have recently been traveling the state hosting town halls to listen to local school districts and community members to find creative ways to solve the shortage. The last of the town halls for 2017 was held on Wednesday, Sept. 6 at Monte Vista High School.
Robert Mitchell, director of educator for preparation for CDHE, conducted the town hall which was mostly attended by local principals, directors and superintendents. Mitchell began his presentation by giving a background on why the town halls were being held and the associated legislation that has led to attempting to find a fix to the problem.
Mitchell explained that CDE and CDHE developed House Bill 17-1003 as a key step in addressing educator shortages. It was then authored by Rep. McLachlan (D-Durango) and Sen. Coram (R-Montrose). It was approved by the Colorado legislature and signed into law by Governor John Hickenlooper in May 2017. The bill requires that CDE and CDHE develop a collaborative action plan that outlines the necessary steps to resolve educator shortages
“Colorado is a desirable place to live but it’s also a hard place for some people to live. Our current situation is that about five to six years ago we had about 3200 graduates interested in entering education. We then began to see a downward spiral. Last year we only had around 2500 interested,” said Mitchell. He also cautioned that the numbers are actually lower since of those graduated with interest only about 1800 actually entered the profession.
“We are at a huge net loss around the state. In rural Colorado we’ve hit a crisis level including Monte Vista and the San Luis Valley. I was in another district recently that has 20 openings and they have exactly zero applicants. We are seeing a huge decline,” said Mitchell. He explained that there are 178 school districts in the state and 147 of those are considered rural significantly highlighting the problem.
According to Mitchell, areas that are seeing the highest shortages are secondary math, secondary science, special education, speech pathology, bilingual educators and finding a diverse array of building and district leaders. Mitchell said that diversity in education is a problem in Colorado as it is globally. “Across the state our teachers are not representative of our student body,” he said.
Declining enrollments in these subjects and the decreased interest in educational careers is contributing to the shortage. As a result Colorado is attempting to be strategic in bolstering its educator shortage. Del Norte High School Principal Russell Randolph said he has seen a shortage in every subject, not just the ones mentioned in the study. Monte Vista School District Superintendent Rob Webb stated the last position hired in Monte Vista was the new band director. Mitchell agreed that while traveling the state and listening to rural Colorado every subject was having difficulty being filled.
Mitchell also told attendees that the educator shortage was not limited to teachers and building leaders but also other support staff. This includes positions such as bus drivers, office staff, counselors, janitors and more.
There are several identified reasons that people seem to be losing interest in a career in education. These include an external perception of teaching, limited salary to new educators and the increasing costs of a college degree when compared to the return-on-investment. Retention is also a problem, as nearly 25 percent of new teachers leave the profession within the first four years. Building climate and leadership, poor pay and a large workload are the most cited reasons for leaving.
After Mitchell gave background information he asked attendees to divide into small groups and discuss each of the issues affecting the educator shortage and try to present ideas to solve the problems.

Perceptions of teaching
The groups were first asked to discuss the perceptions of teaching and how to address some of those issues. The main focus of the groups during this discussion was the cost of a college education. Randolph said he has three children and not one of them is thinking of going into education. He shared an example that was once used in the state of Texas where children of educators were able to continue the family legacy and receive their education for free.
Webb stated that a solution might be to offer reduced tuition at local universities such as Adams State for those desiring to enter the teaching profession. He also expanded to an idea to completely pay the last two years of tuition and forgive loans for those who teach at high-needs rural districts.
Advertising rural living in a positive light was also another idea presented. Career fairs and sharing the joys of teaching were also discussed.
Mitchell said that teaching is a profession students see on a daily basis and as such asked why they did not want to enter the profession. Randolph answered that much of the time educators tell their classrooms not to enter the profession, and students witness the stress levels. Webb said that in the last years there has been an increased workload which takes away some joy from teaching. Teachers are afraid to take risks to engage students.
Student teaching was another issue discussed. The educators acknowledged that essentially student teachers are working for free. A possible strategy is to pay something to student teachers so they do not have to worry about gaining other employment when they should be concentrating on their training.

Compensation, salary and retention
Mitchell said that salary for teachers in Colorado is not competitive and retention is low. The low pay when compared to the hours put in is affecting interest in the profession. “My favorite idea came from a first grader who said all the teachers in Colorado should get a gold card that allows them free ice cream anywhere in the state,” joked Mitchell. “Teachers don’t get into the profession because of the money, but we do lose people every year because they won’t even consider the job because of the money,” said Mitchell.
Bill Metz Elementary Principal Gabe Futrell said workload is a factor. “In a rural area we wear many different hats other than just our job title. There’s so many things coming down from the state and federal government that have to be met. We recently visited a small district in Denver that was the same size as our elementary. We have a principal, counselor, a behavior interventionist and teachers. They have a principal, counselor, three restorative justice coordinators, speech pathologist and special education. The bigger areas get funded and have less responsibilities,” he said.
Superintendent Webb said that he would commit to a higher salary for his new teachers if the state would stop cutting funding through the negative factor. “I think the only solution is a statewide guaranteed minimum salary. It has to be guaranteed because we’ll never get there with lack of funding from the state,” he said.

Contributing to the town hall
Mitchell thanked attendees for their time and sharing their ideas and concerns. For those who were unable to attend he shared there are other ways to participate.
A survey for input is located on the home pages of the Colorado Department of Higher Education and Colorado Department of Education websites.
Emails can also be sent to [email protected]


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