It’s getting easier to become licensed as a public school teacher, as officials cut red tape to resolve a worsening national staffing crisis.
The federal government on Thursday announced a slew of funding initiatives aimed at “eliminating educator shortages.”
They include more than $27 million in funds from the Department of Education for teacher preparation programs and more than $65 million from the Department of Labor to develop registered apprenticeships in short-staffed professions, including teaching.
The announcement also touted new national guidelines for apprenticeship standards for teachers developed by Pathways Alliance, a coalition of education groups that pledges to deliver more “effective, affordable and sustainable” teacher training programs.
The apprenticeships allow non-professionals to learn teaching on the job while earning a salary. According to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, registered apprenticeship programs for teachers grew from two to 21 states over the past year, and the new initiatives will expand them to every state.
“Providing opportunities for future teachers to earn while they learn has created an affordable and exciting pathway into the teaching profession that can help states build a talented and diverse pipeline of educators at a moment when doing so has never mattered more,” Mr. Cardona said.
The announcement comes as droves of k-12 teachers, counselors and support staff have quit their professions or taken early retirement over the past three years, citing COVID-related burnout and low pay.
Education officials have responded by increasing salaries, reactivating retired teachers, tapping substitutes as long-germ replacements, extending hybrid learning arrangements and easing certification requirements.
But the numbers of new teachers are not keeping pace with the outflow.
Once the most popular college major in America, education has drawn dwindling interest over the past 50 years. According to the most recent data from the National Center for Education Statistics, the number of students getting education degrees dropped from 176,307 in 1970-1971 to 89,398 in 2020-2021.
NCES reported that 45% of public schools started the 2022-2023 academic year with one or more unfilled positions. Shortages were especially acute on urban and rural campuses and in specialized subjects like math and science.
A working paper from Brown University estimated that schools had at least 36,000 teacher vacancies nationwide in August 2022.
Placing teachers in classrooms without adequate subject matter training or classroom exposure makes them unlikely to stick around for long, said Heather Peske, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality.
“States face a real challenge in developing their teacher pipelines, but fast-tracking underprepared teachers into the classroom will ultimately cost much more in terms of school budgets, teacher attrition and students who get sub-par teaching,” Ms. Peske told The Washington Times.
The country’s two largest teachers’ unions, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, have blamed stagnant wages for keeping people out of the profession.
Departing teachers have cited an uptick in psychological stress resulting from school shootings, a rise in emotionally distressed students during COVID lockdowns, declining test scores and political battles over race and gender lessons.
Teacher shortages will worsen wherever short-term fixes fail to help replacements cope adequately with their stress, said Kelly Olson Stewart, program chair of the education doctoral program at the University of Arizona Global Campus.
“In addressing the teacher staffing crisis, fast-tracking can only be a viable solution if accompanied by comprehensive support,” Mrs. Olson Stewart told The Times. “This includes dedicated funding for ongoing training, mentorship programs and continuous professional development over an extended period.”
At least a dozen states have relaxed curriculum and testing requirements for new teachers in recent years. They include:
• California lawmakers in 2021 eliminated two separate exams for aspiring educators who have taken courses in basic skills and the subjects they wish to teach.
• Oklahoma last year removed the requirement for a general education exam.
• Arizona last year allowed substitute teachers to take full-time positions and work toward a college degree while teaching.
• The education company iteach, certified by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation, now offers online certification courses in 11 states: Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, Nevada, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia.
• The Mississippi Teacher Licensure Commission, a state panel created to evaluate online certification programs, unanimously endorsed iteach at a July 7 meeting. The recommendation now goes to the state board of education for approval.
• In Georgia, DeKalb County officials recently announced that some coaches, special education assistants and other employees will teach classes this fall as administrators grapple with an estimated 400 openings.
• On Wednesday, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, signed legislation making it easier for teachers moving from out of state to get credentials.
In a 2022 report, the American Federation of Teachers called for more rigorous teacher training programs and criticized state efforts to loosen requirements.
“Imagine if we ‘fast-tracked’ credentials for nurses in American hospitals,” said Jonathan Zimmerman, a professor in the history of education at the University of Pennsylvania. “Only in teaching is it considered acceptable or even necessary to place novices in positions of professional responsibility without in-depth training and preparation.”
Reached for comment, some parental rights advocates offered a different view.
They pointed out that private schools and homeschool groups have relied successfully for years on teachers with more subject matter expertise and professional experience than formal education training.
“Teacher certification requirements keep qualified teachers out of the classroom,” said Ginny Gentles, a school choice advocate at the Independent Women’s Forum. “Students should not be relegated to long-term substitutes or virtual instruction because a state requires individuals to jump through bureaucratic hurdles in order to teach.”
Easing certification requirements shields more candidates from leftist political indoctrination at colleges of education, added Sheri Few, president of United States Parents Involved in Education.
“Teachers learn how to indoctrinate but they don’t learn how to teach children to read, write and do math,” Ms. Few said. “If based on proven education practices, including robust phonics and fundamental mathematics, states can improve teacher quality through fast-tracking teaching credentials.”
Some state officials also defended their moves to loosen requirements.
In an email, a spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, touted “a record $3.9 billion in investments designed to improve educator recruitment, retention and training” over the past four years.
On the East Coast, Virginia’s state education board decided last month to partner with iteach for certification, fulfilling Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s Executive Directive No. 3 to reduce “red tape associated with teacher licensure, while assuring high standards.”
“Governor Youngkin fully supports high-quality alternative pathways to becoming a teacher,” spokeswoman Macauley Porter told The Times. “The State Board of Education rigorously reviewed iteach data to ensure that iteach will provide school divisions with another effective and efficient option for recruiting and preparing new teachers.”
State statistics show Virginia had more than 3,500 full-time teacher vacancies for the 2022-2023 school year, a rate of about 4.5%. Vacancies increased from the year before, the statistics showed.
The for-profit credentialing websites claim they can put new teachers into classrooms within 12-18 months, much faster and cheaper than schools of education offering four-year degrees online.
Teachers’ colleges have already moved to offer more programs online and map them to evolving licensure requirements in the different states where students already live.
“Educator preparation cannot cling to one-size-fits-all pathway models,” said Stacey Ludwig Johnson, executive dean of education at Western Governors University.
But former college English professor Jen Garrison Stuber, advocacy chair for the Washington Homeschool Association, said it’s hard to see the changes resolving the concerns about public school safety, funding and class sizes that push many teachers to quit.
“I don’t think it fundamentally fixes the issues that teachers and parents share,” Ms. Stuber said.
• Sean Salai can be reached at ssalai@washingtontimes.com.