Demands facing new teachers complicate state's current staffing shortage
GREELEY – "My goal is to just go somewhere that I'm going to be happy," said Sage Halloran. A senior in the teaching program at the University of Northern Colorado, she will soon have a lot of options open when she seeks her first job. "Honestly, I don't really want to be picky. But I can be picky right now, if that makes sense"
Colorado is 7,000 teachers short at the moment. The pipeline has slimmed during the COVID years and years before that saw some declines as well. Districts are struggling to provide enough pay for teachers to afford the rising cost of housing. Many are staffed heavily with substitutes and even with subs, there is a shortage.
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"It's a very challenging job. There's a lot of mandates. There's a lot of curriculum requirements. There's a lot of assessments they're required to do, said Assistant professor Chris Kyser. The demands on teachers in recent years have multiplied. "The time spent planning high quality lessons. The time spent building relationships with community partners and families," she listed.
"They work hard. They're extremely intelligent and they make every other career possible," said Suzette Youngs, a professor of education at UNC. There is a shortage of credit she believes for the profession. "I don't think that we're treated as professionals that we are."
"I've had a lot of classmates change their majors or drop out completely," said senior Amanda Maggio. Support seems lacking. Over forty percent of teachers leave the profession in the first five years Kyser pointed out. "Like most things it has to get worse before it can get better so I hope that we're at the bottom."
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And there's some room to believe they are. The university's teaching program is looking at an increase of applications this year after drops during the COVID years. "Last Friday we had 500 high schoolers here on campus and they are so excited to become teachers.," said Youngs. COVID made teaching and learning tough. Both Halloran and Maggio have done part of their degree under COVID restrictions. They have seen it take a toll on the profession. "I think a lot of us didn't have the support that we needed and that just pushed a lot of people out of the field. I think a lot of it is pay as well," said Halloran.
There are other complications too. More politics has crept into the education environment, but it is not unheard of in schools Youngs observed. "There's a political wave that has gone through. But that comes and goes. Right ?We've had that for years." And for people entering the teaching profession there are concerns about handling parents who fly off the handle and the threat of school shootings. It has put teachers in the position of establishing their level of comfort with the risk and understanding the need for bravery in a job that previously did not require it. "That's what I go with every day is; I'm going to going into school and I'm going to teach somebody and I'm going to help change their life. And if something happens to me then at least I get to change their life," said Halloran. "I've thought about that. And I've been scared by that. And there's people I know that maybe they worry that the money isn't enough for put themselves at risk," said Maggio.
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Both students found a desire to become teachers through inspiration. For Halloran it was her 1st and 2nd grade teachers. For Maggio it was a "phenomenal" 3rd grade teacher. It shows some of the decision making about creating a love for the profession. For students of color, where there is an even greater shortage of teachers in education, the cycle is furthered by a lack of examples. "They need to be inspired by teachers that look like them. And so as our minority teacher numbers continue to decrease, our minority students may not necessarily be inspired," said Kyser.
State lawmakers are looking at several bills to entice potential teachers. To Youngs, the inequity of pay in districts is an issue. "I'd love to see that every teacher regardless of where they work, gets paid the same for their years," she said. Some districts are paying tens of thousands more than those next door. Douglas County's starting teacher salary is $18,000 less than the Cherry Creek School District nearby. Voters in DougCo in November turned down a mill levy hike that would have raised pay. The district is now trying to recruit teachers at a significant disadvantage.
Halloran and Maggio had their own suggestions on enticing people into the profession. Both said the lack of pay for student teachers is a problem. Maggio had to quit a job to take a student teaching position. She also hopes for assistance in taking costly practice exams needed for teaching. Both graduating students remain hopeful and excited about their futures. The love of teaching is hard to pull away from them, even with all the challenges. And money is an issue, but it's not everything to them. "You know, I'm going to have to be frugal throughout my life. I've heard that from everybody. I'm like, I know. I know that. But that's OK, that's not why I'm doing it," said Maggio.
