Believe it or not, it’s back to school time. Cue the primary-colored ads, the half-off backpacks and pencils and the summer-blockbuster themed lunchboxes. Unfortunately, this is also the time of year for a less positive annual ritual: news articles about local teacher shortages.
Already there has been coverage of the issue from all corners of the country: increasingly dire statistics in North Carolina, where 15 percent of the teacher workforce left their jobs last year and fewer students are studying to become teachers; an ongoing, long-term shortage in Kansas; and bonuses offered to new teachers in San Francisco as the district struggles to fill their remaining vacancies before the school year starts.