Educator shortage: Time to think outside the box

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Guest Column by Scott Bushnell

April 29, 2024

America is heading toward a crisis that we may not recover from.

As more teachers hit retirement age and new teachers become scarce, who will be in the classrooms to educate our children?

I see the stories all over the U.S. of teachers who are leaving the profession because of the demands of the job, the pressure to raise test scores, discipline issues, parents who have unrealistic expectations, districts that don’t have the funds to provide the services students need and of course the pay. Joining a profession after a minimum of four years of college that requires many to have second jobs just to make ends meet will draw fewer and fewer people from a diminishing workforce.

This is not a good look, America.

A recent survey found that to live a decent life in the state of Iowa, it costs a minimum of $42,000. The fact that a starting teacher in the state makes $40,000 is a sad commentary. I can’t begin to tackle the many levels of these teacher shortage concerns in this article, so let’s look at pay scale alone.

I think it’s time we look at having a national pay scale for teachers, with reasonable incentives to increase pay every year. Most districts pay teachers based on the funding they receive from whatever source their state uses, mostly property taxes. Since houses are less expensive in Tennessee versus New York, teachers are paid differently. How about we have the U.S. Department of Education fund the gap between what the local districts can pay and a national wage? Let’s start all new teachers at $70,000, with a rate increase of $5,000 for every year and $5,000 for every 10 units of continued education per year. Partner with every state university and college to offer free tuition for in-state teachers every summer, so they are not out of pocket for this expense. Provide additional incentives for teachers who are willing to move to high needs areas of the country. Incentivize college students to pursue teaching careers with stipends and tuition reductions for starting their careers in the state they graduate.

We also need to find a way to respect the profession as it once was respected. We don’t expect to be rock stars but “Yes, I’m a teacher” should mean something in this great country.

As a real example, if I go to a state school and I get $500 a quarter to pursue teaching, plus a 25 percent tuition reduction to commit to a three-year teaching job in state, I’m at least taking a longer look at the profession. If I can make $70,000 to start and within those five years can make up to $120,000, I’m thinking long and hard about that as an option. I’m sure there needs to be a max out limit but if I can make up to $150,000 a year, teaching becomes a desirable profession.

We also need to get the business sector on board with working with teachers. Banks need to give better terms to teachers to be able to buy a house. Corporations will get better workers in the long term if they support education now. Allow districts to buy housing in some areas where teachers struggle due to the housing shortage and allow the district to “rent” to their teachers.

We also need to find a way to respect the profession as it once was respected. We don’t expect to be rock stars but “Yes, I’m a teacher” should mean something in this great country. If we don’t start thinking outside the box we may be looking at a teaching shortage that will have longterm impact on our country.

Scott Bushnell is an ACSA member and the vice principal of John Finney Education Complex in Vallejo City USD.