Teacher group wants say in shortage fix

The state’s largest teacher association says a plan aimed at ending Colorado’s teacher shortage lacks specifics and shortchanges traditional preparation programs.

The plan, created by state education leaders, was introduced this month and was based largely on comments gleaned from town halls held this summer throughout the state. Its recommendations include better base salaries and housing incentives for teachers living in rural areas, student loan forgiveness and “grow your own” teacher preparation programs that will keep teachers from leaving the towns they grew up in.

The Colorado Education Association is concerned the recommendations don’t include ways to get teachers involved in solving the shortage problem, president Kerrie Dallman said.

“It is concerning that there are not more concrete details to ensure the voices of the professional educators who are working directly with our students are part of the decision-making process within the schools-districts-state,” Dallman said in a written statement. Teacher satisfaction and retention are highest in the districts where teachers take part in forming policy and decisions, she said, a process the CEA believes should be mirrored when deciding how to get and retain teachers.

Dallman praised the state’s departments of education and higher education for tackling the growing problem. The CEA is “glad that an in-depth look at the looming teacher shortage is finally being undertaken,” she said.

Enrollment and completion of educator preparation programs have declined by 24 percent and 17 percent respectively since 2010, and nearly a third of Colorado educators soon will be eligible for retirement, according to a state report.

Colorado loses about 16 percent of new classroom teachers within their first five years, the report said.

Dallman said the CEA appreciates the call for better minimum salaries for teachers. “But we also want to see concrete proposals for providing the additional revenue,” she said.

The CEA also doesn’t want the state to rush new teachers who don’t have the proper training or certification into the classroom.