ACSA joins educator recruitment summit

Association of California School Administrators

ACSA Executive Director Edgar Zazueta is interviewed by Sacramento news station KCRA 3 about the educator shortage.

CDE gathers organizations to explore ways to mitigate teacher shortage

August 21, 2023

ACSA participated in Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond’s Teacher Recruitment Summit on Aug. 14, which focused on short-term strategies to mitigate the educator workforce shortage.

The California Department of Education gathered other education organizations to join the summit, including the California Teachers Association, the California School Boards Association and the California Federation of Teachers. Thurmond opened the summit by highlighting grants for teacher candidates, funding for residency programs and efforts to increase compensation for teachers and school staff.

Another emphasis of the summit was to explore ways to continue to diversify the educator workforce to ensure that students see themselves reflected in all levels of school leadership.

In his remarks as part of the opening press conference, ACSA Executive Director Edgar Zazueta emphasized the workforce shortage’s impact on all educators. Most principals begin their careers in the classroom, he said.

“Even while we focus on teachers, it’s important to remember that this is a pipeline issue,” he said.

Across the board, educators are retiring earlier — according to CalSTRS data, teacher and administrator retirements increased 26 percent during the second half of 2020 as compared to the same peri

od in 2019. Of those retirees, 62 percent reported retiring earlier than planned, and a majority cited the challenges of teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Even while we focus on teachers, it’s important to remember that this is a pipeline issue.”

— Edgar Zazueta, ACSA Executive Director

Still, Zazueta said the problems preceded COVID-19.

“We have this tendency to blame a lot of things on COVID,” he said. “The pandemic didn’t create the teacher and recruitment problem. It exacerbated it.”

Zazueta said that fewer teachers are choosing administrative career paths and taking on the challenge of school leadership, which is a problem for maintaining proper school staffing.

“If you have an effective school principal, you’re more likely to retain higher-quality educators,” he said.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond convened multiple educational organizations, including ACSA, to discuss ways to mitigate the educator shortage.

ACSA Executive Director Edgar Zazueta speaks at a press conference to kick off the Teacher Recruitment Summit.

A press conference kicked off the Teacher Recruitment Summit.