Shortage of teachers not easy to fix

Solution requires investment of time, money and support

Arizona has a shortage of teachers — and Yuma County is no exception.

According to a statewide survey, three of every four teacher vacancies school districts reported at the beginning of the 2018-19 school year were still unfilled as of the first week of September.

When the Yuma Sun spoke to local school district officials, several noted that there were still vacancies in the classrooms, despite the fact that school started in August.

Perhaps the most striking story was from Yuma Union High School District, which had one-fifth of its 500 teaching positions vacant. However, most districts in the county faced hiring challenges.

That means big classroom sizes, and extra work for the teachers who are there. At YUHSD, for example, teachers used planning periods to cover open classes, which means less time at school for teachers to do things like grading papers.

So how do we change this? There are a couple of factors on the table.

The first is to continue to work toward raising teacher pay in Arizona. Teachers aren’t in it to make a fortune. But becoming a teacher requires a college degree — and that’s not cheap.

Then, make sure teachers have the tools they need to do the job at hand. It’s tough to teach when the school runs out of paper, or the printer breaks, or the class is out of dry erase markers. It’s hard to advocate for a modern syllabus when the classrooms can’t afford the supplies necessary, and the teachers turn to funding sites to get supplies or equipment for their classes.

And finally, make sure those teachers feel supported, both by the school administration, the school district and the parents themselves. There are a plethora of schools in Yuma County, and each comes with its own unique set of challenges and circumstances.

But a teacher who feels supported on all fronts is a teacher who will stay, even if the pay isn’t the greatest in the nation — and that teacher will encourage others to come.

Teachers shape the future, molding young minds into the next generation of leaders. People sometimes balk at the thought of investing more in education, but frankly, that is an investment that will pay dividends for the rest of our lives. And for our future leaders to be successful, they need qualified teachers in the classroom. It’s a challenge, but it’s one worth pursuing.

What do you think, readers? What needs to happen to help Yuma schools fill these open positions? Let us know. Share your thoughts online at www.YumaSun.com, or send us a Letter to the Editor at letters@ yumasun.com.