LPI In the News

ABC Fox Montana by Amanda Roley | Great Falls Public Schools are among the many districts suffering from a teacher shortage. The article notes that the Learning Policy Institute estimates about 60,000 unfilled teaching positions nationwide for the 2015–2016 school year. Traditionally, math, science, and special education posts were the most difficult to fill in Great Falls. This year, the difficulties in hiring extended to elementary school jobs.

The Press Democrat by Christi Warren | Thanks to early planning, Sonoma County schools did not suffer the hiring problems of many other school districts that were disclosed in the Learning Project Institute teacher shortage study. Administrators started their own training program aimed at working people who wanted to switch careers. Others began the hiring process earlier than usual and went further afield to attend job fairs. This article also appeared in the Petaluma Argus-Courier and the Sonoma Index-Tribune.

EdSource by Fermin Leal and Pat Maio | An EdSource survey found that most of California’s largest school districts were successful in filling or coming close to filling their classrooms with credentialed teachers at the start of the school year. Fresno fared the worst, with 80 unfilled positions. To attract new hires, however, many districts offered special incentives, such as hiring bonuses, end-of-year stipends, and lifting of traditional salary caps for transferring teachers. The article noted that a Learning Policy Institute report concluded that the U.S. is experiencing the worst shortage of teachers since 1990.

Tucson Sentinel by Peter Cheng | Arizona is having trouble, as is the rest of the nation, recruiting and retaining teachers. The state ranked last for teacher attractiveness in a Learning Policy Institute report. Peter Cheng reports on the pitches, arguments, and creative actions school administrators are taking to try to fill 2,000 teacher vacancies.

The Atlantic by Timothy Walker | The author, an American teacher, moves to Finland and finds that fewer instructional hours make for better preparation, assessment, and collaboration and, ultimately, happier teachers and better-educated students. Dion Burns, a senior researcher at the Learning Policy Institute, is quoted in the article saying that improved working conditions, such as more time to collaborate, increase job satisfaction and motivation to stay in the profession.

12News | A month into the school year, Arizona had 2,000 unfilled teaching positions, according to the broadcast report. One Phoenix school hired a headhunting firm because, said one charter school principal, “We’re desperate.” Told that the Learning Policy report on teacher shortages ranked Arizona as the least attractive state for teachers, the principal said he wasn’t surprised.

Sunshine State News by Alison Nielson | Florida ranks 28th in a list of best states for teachers when it comes to such factors as job opportunities, competition, academic and work environment, salaries, and job security. The report comes from WalletHub, which analyzed data from 50 states and the District of Columbia, and follows a recent report by the Learning Policy Institute.

South Florida Sun Sentinel | The Sun Sentinel editorial board warns that if Florida lawmakers do not end their adversarial attitude toward public school teachers, a potential teacher shortage will turn into a chronic problem whose victims will be Florida’s 2.8 million public school students. It doesn’t help, the editorial says, that lawmakers and governors “too often have treated public teachers like the enemy.”

Portland Press-Herald by the editorial board | The fact that Maine schools are struggling to fill teaching positions, especially in such subjects as special education and foreign languages, “is a crisis in the making,” according to the editorial board. Action must be taken, and the board suggests adopting recommendations in the Learning Policy Institute report, such as higher pay, loan forgiveness, and help with housing and child care. This article also appeared on centralmaine.com.

Herald and News by Courtney Anderson | The days when 100 or 150 people would apply for one teaching position are long gone, so when retired teacher Sharon Chappell agreed to work as a long-term substitute, the offer was quickly accepted. The article cites the Learning Policy Institute’s report on the nation’s teacher shortage, and notes that, like many school districts, the Klamath County School District in southern Oregon is having trouble finding new teachers.