Teacher Shortages Are Solvable

Lisette Partelow argues why districts that wait until the start of the school year to fix teacher shortages can only offer stopgap solutions.

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.

The above excerpt was originally published in U.S. News & World Report. Click here to view the full article.

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