teacher shortage
As the new school year commences, backward education priorities reveal a backward agenda
North Carolina’s public school students could use some help. From thirty years of the still-ongoing Leandro court case, we know that our school funding is inadequate. Our state’s school funding effort – the amount we spend relative to the size of our economy – ranks dead last in the country. We also know that funding […]
Plagued by teacher shortages, some states turn to fast-track credentialing
Faced with alarming teacher shortages, Virginia last month agreed to partner with a for-profit online teacher credentialing company, hoping to get more teachers into classrooms faster and without the higher tuition costs of traditional colleges and universities. While some of the Virginia school board members had qualms about the process, they agreed to give it […]
New federal law will help military personnel, spouses surmount NC teacher licensing hurdles
If the new school year starts like the last, it will begin with a teacher shortage numbering in the thousands. Last fall, the “State of the Teaching Profession” report showed 5,091 vacant teaching positions in North Carolina on the 40th day of school. That was a 58.4% increase over the 3,214 vacancies in the previous […]
House budget proposal falls woefully short of what our students and educators deserve
North Carolina’s public schools face many challenges. In November, the Supreme Court ruled that the current level of school funding is so low that it violates the constitutional rights of the state’s 1.5 million public school students. Student performance on state tests is improving but remains below pre-pandemic levels and opportunity gaps have grown. The […]
Republican lawmakers to NC schoolchildren and teachers: The attacks will continue until morale improves
In case you hadn’t noticed, North Carolina public schools, along with the children and teachers who inhabit them, are suffering mightily these days. The Public School Forum of North Carolina reports that the number of youth suicides in our state has doubled in recent years and that there’s been a 46% increase in the number of kids who have suffered with one or more “major depressive episodes” since the start of the pandemic. Meanwhile, thousands of educators are voting on the state of our public schools with their feet.
Teachers would get $60K minimum salary under bill in Congress making grants to states
WASHINGTON – A panel of policymakers and educators, including author Dave Eggers and former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, gathered at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday to promote the American Teacher Act. The bill, if passed, would authorize the federal government to create four-year grants for states to enact and enforce minimum school teacher […]
Report: Decline in teachers with traditional education degrees linked to growth in charter schools
As charter schools proliferate across America, there has been a corresponding decline in the number of new teachers earning bachelor’s degrees in education from traditional educator preparation programs, according to a new study from the National Center for Research on Education Access and Choice (REACH). Researchers Doug Harris, the national director of REACH, and Mary Penn, a research partner at the center, found that for every 10% increase in charter school enrollment...
Commission designing new teacher pay system says plan is not yet ready for prime time
Members of a commission designing new licensure and pay structures for North Carolina teachers learned Thursday that there’s more work to do before turning a final draft over to the State Board of Education. Professional Educator Preparation and Standards Commission (PEPSC) members noted several lingering concerns about the controversial pay and licensure model that members […]
North Carolina’s teacher shortage: the inevitable result of the General Assembly’s decade-long effort to degrade the profession
While there are many disagreements in education policy, nearly all researchers agree that within the school walls, there’s nothing more important than an excellent teacher. North Carolina’s Supreme Court agrees. In 2004, they established that staffing each classroom with a competent, well-trained teacher is vital to providing students with the “sound basic” education guaranteed under […]