City teacher shortages persist
STAMFORD — At this point in the year, one might assume the city’s public school teachers are far past settled into their respective classrooms, but in fact the district is still working to fill vacancies in critical areas, such as special education, math and English as a second language.
“Special education is always an area where we’re looking for additional teachers. Math is another area. Those continue to be open on a rolling basis,” said Superintendent of Schools Tamu Lucero.
The district’s jobs page lists three open positions for bilingual education teachers, eight positions for math teachers, and 13 positions for special education teachers.
By midyear, there also are many openings for longterm substitutes, who will carry students in certain subjects through the year in the absence of a fulltime teacher.
Gaps in these subject areas are not unique to Stamford, and indeed all are listed by the State Department of Education as shortage areas, based on vacancies reported by districts across Connecticut.
There also are shortages in occupational subject teachers, school library and media specialists, science teachers, speech and language pathologists, and technology teachers.
“Connecticut doesn’t
currently shows signs of a drastic teacher shortage as other states are reporting, but we do have geographic and subjectarea shortages in some districts,” said Chris Todd, bureau chief in the talent office for the state Department of Education, referencing an August Rockefeller Institute of Government report about Connecticut’s teacher workforce.
The state has a “distributional problem” between urban and suburban districts for teachers, especially in certain specializations, the report found, a point that, despite the expanding teacher workforce, has contributed to Stamford’s vacancies, said Todd.
“I think Stamford, more than a lot of districts, will hire and have an educator stay for two to four years and then they’ll make a decision to move to a neighboring district that pays higher. It’s not so much a poaching problem, but there’s a mobility issue. Some districts that are struggling to fill positions are constantly struggling to fill those positions,” said Todd.
Diane Phanos, president of the Stamford Education Association teachers union, said the SEA works to achieve competitive salaries in contract negotiations so Stamford doesn’t act solely as a “training ground” for new teachers who work in the district for a few years before leaving for higherpaying schools.
“They’re never going to be equal but we at least need comparable salaries to encourage people to say,” said Phanos.
According to the SEA’s most recent contract, new teachers with a bachelor’s degree earn $48,695 annually while those who enter with a master’s take home $53,463. In Greenwich, one of the highest paying districts in the state, the starting salary for teachers with a bachelor’s is $56,111 and $61,932 for those with a master’s, according to the Greenwich Education Association contract.
The state provides incentives for teachers to enter positions in shortage areas, said Todd, including mortgage assistance, loan forgiveness, and alternate and expedited routes to certification.
Stamford’s budget process contributes to the district’s inability to fill vacancies, specifically in shortage areas, said Board of Education President Andy George.
“One of the problems we’ve always run into is our budget cycle doesn’t get approved until May, and a lot of the hiring can’t be done until the budget is approved,” said George.
George said he hopes to accelerate the budget process, or at least allow for hiring in shortage areas
Current Stamford teacher vacancies in persistent shortage areas:
Bilingual education/English as a second language: 3 Math: 8
Special education: 13 before the budget is passed in order to fill the persistent vacancies.
“The other thing that has put pressure on us this year is the spike in enrollment,” said George, noting that the district’s growing student population makes it difficult to keep up with the growing demand for teachers.
Most years the city’s total student population only increases by 150 to 220 students, but this year the enrollment increased by 570 students, many of whom are English learners.
In the coming years, the student population is only expected to grow further, as is the demand for teachers, especially in shortage areas.