STAFFING SHORTAGE
Lack of teachers continues to be addressed to meet need
When it comes to staffing today’s classrooms, addressing the need behind the teaching staff shortage is a key priority.
In March 2022, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) created the Teacher Vacancy Task Force to address challenges facing Texas public schools. The TEA stated that nearly $18 billion in COVID-19 relief funding has been distributed to school systems to allow for increasing the number of teachers, staff and additional priority support positions in Texas public schools.
Dr. Alicia Moore, Chair, Education Department, Southwestern University, explained that prior to the pandemic, a shortage of teachers in K-12 school settings in fact already existed. “The pandemic only laid bare the existing challenges being experienced by school districts to find qualified teachers to serve their students,” said Moore. “Though increasing workloads and other areas of discontent had existed for higher education faculty, the rate of attrition was not as startling as it has been from the onset of the pandemic to the present.”
Faculty surveys
Moore added numerous surveys revealed COVID-19 affected the large number of faculty who left or considered leaving their positions for a wide range of reasons, including expanding workloads, stress related to political constraints on teaching about race and diversity, mental and physical health concerns, low morale, a negative campus climate, a personal lack of self-care, discriminatory treatment, and overall burnout.
Raquel Sáenz Ortiz, Ph.D., Southwestern University Assistant Professor of Education, Director of Secondary Field Based Programs, Contributing Faculty Member in the Race and Ethnicity Studies Program, said many academics are, simply, leaving their jobs as professors to work outside of academia.
“They can work in organizations where they can apply the knowledge in the areas where they had previously done research,” Sáenz
Ortiz said.
Support issues
Sáenz Ortiz added that according to the “Faces of Faculty” survey conducted in 2022 by Cengage, more than half of faculty feel that they are underpaid or do not feel supported by their administration.
To meet academic need, Lone Star College (LSC) is addressing teacher shortages through the Alternative Teacher Certification Program, which will train individuals who have already completed a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degree.
The coursework is five to six months, with a required one-year internship or an unpaid one semester of clinical placement.
“The LSC Alternative Teacher Certification program is well-respected by school districts in our service area and beyond for the quality of certified teachers we produce,” said Linda Leto Head, LSC Senior Associate
Vice Chancellor of External and Employer Relations.
About the program
This program, available at all eight LSC campuses, prepares students to meet the Texas Education Agency’s domains and competencies for their chosen content area. All students in the program must complete a minimum of 300 hours of coursework, field experience and training.
Now certified
“Our teacher certification program at LSC is one of the largest offered at a community college in Texas,” said Leto Head. “Many students have become certified teachers since this program began in 2002.”
Moore added how important immediate action is for the staff shortage issue.
“No matter which programs or initiatives are developed and implemented to address the recruitment of university faculty, if there are no measures in place to retain them, the faculty will continue to leave higher education,” said Moore.