But they still have over 100 teacher vacancies in the school district for next year with half the vacancies in Special Education.

Arizona Teachers of Tomorrow does have candidates and we are sending lists of qualified teachers to the school districts weekly.  But we need more teachers. With the teacher pay raise in Arizona there has never been a better time to enter the teaching profession.

Note that Governor Ducey’s office did highlight the fact that the state provided a set of teacher pay raises but there is no law that school districts can’t go even higher.

“His office noted the Florence Unified School District is giving teacher pay increases of 5% for the coming school year, bringing total raises over the last two years to 18%. That has helped the district’s teacher retention rate increase from 80% to 89%, according to Ducey’s office.

Other school districts also highlighted by the governor’s office include the Yuma Union High School District, which has given teachers a 22% pay raise, and the Kingman Unified School District, which has given teachers a 17% pay raise.”

It’s time to teach in Arizona!!

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Since the state eliminated the lateral entry program for teachers, we have been busy filling the void for teachers.  North Carolina is turning out to be one of our best states.  We have had over 1,500 potential teachers apply to the NC Teachers of Tomorrow program, we have had over 300 start the program and we know that over 40 have already been hired.  Since we just started last fall, this is a phenomenal beginning.

We see articles on the teacher shortage all the time (right now Kentucky has a ton). But it is great to actually help districts solve their shortage in time for back to school.

The post North Carolina Teacher Shortage appeared first on Teachers of Tomorrow.

The Shortage is increasing! 

[i]

Why are there so many open positions?

• Florida students graduating with an education degree has fallen by nearly 5,000 since 2006.[ii]
• In 2008, there were 9,012 education program completers, by 2015 it was down to 5,612 – a 38% drop
• In 2014, 2,477 teachers came from out of state and in just one year that more than doubled to 5,124 teachers from out of state – but Florida cannot depend on other states for its teacher[iii]
• Public school enrollment has grown from 2.6 million in 2008 to 2.8 million in 2015 [iv]

Can alternative certification help?

• Texas does not have a shortage and more than 50% of its teachers come from– and those teachers have a 70% 5 year retention rate. As education majors dropped, alternative certification increased to cover that drop
• Florida only gets 32% of its teachers from alternative certification – and that percentage has stayed constant. As education majors dropped, so did the numbers completing alternative certification.
• Florida Teachers of Tomorrow has had over 2,400 applicants in the program but only 160 have been admitted – this is due to the length of time it takes to get an SOE, people lose interest, as well as the confusing array of options that result in people not completing a given route.

 Why?

• Delays from FLDOE – it is taking up to 6 months for a person to get their Statement of Eligibility (SOE) to teach – we see this first hand with Florida Teachers of Tomorrow
• Alternative certification teachers don’t complete a program – 35% of Temp Certificate teachers in Florida do not move on to a professional certificate. We lose way too many teachers through the alternative route. [v]
• General Knowledge Test – alternative certification teachers demonstrate general knowledge while enrolled in their program. Over 1,040 teacher are out of a job after failing state tests in spite of effective evaluations.[vi] But those enrolled in an EPI had a 31% greater pass rate than those not enrolled. [vii]

Bottom line: current certification rule makes it easy to get into teaching but 35% will leave teaching because they don’t finish a program.  We have to stop the outflow of teachers.

[i] Florida’s teacher shortage is ‘real and its going to get worse’, State Board of Ed member worries, Gradebook, Tampa Bay Times August 18, 2018

[ii] Florida School districts wrestle with teacher shortage, Orlando Sentinel, February 10, 2017

[iii] U.S. Department of Education Title II Reports for 2015-2016,

[iv] Datacenter Kidscount, Florida state student enrollment

[v] Teacher Recruitment and Retention Presentation to the State Board of Education, August 2016

[vi] At least 1,040 FL teachers out of jobs after failing state test, despite ‘effective’ evaluations, ABC Action News Tampa Bay, August 1, 2018

[vii] Florida State Board of Education powerpoint presentation from Bureau of Postsecondary Assessment, March 2, 2016

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A survey of 230 districts revealed:

• 25% of the 8,200 empty slots went unfilled. Districts filled another
• 22 percent of the open spots were filled by unconventional means, like leaving a long-term substitute in place or hiring someone with an “emergency” credential
• Another 465 teachers walked off the job or just didn’t show up for work in the first four weeks of the semester.
• Districts unable to find credentialed teachers filled nearly 1,000 of the 2,000 remaining vacant positions with long-term substitutes,
• 34 classrooms with administrators who took to the classroom,
• 540 of the positions were filled with teachers on reduced contracts,
• 55 positions were filled by university teaching students who didn’t yet have a degree,
• 65 by creating multi-grade classrooms and 146 by combining existing classes.

Out of the 1,800 people hired without conventional credentials, about

• 733 were awaiting their certification
• 347 had “emergency” certificates with the promise they would eventually get a credential
• 576 received an “interim” certificate while working on an internship
• 156 were immigrants here on a work visa

All in all – when people say there is no teacher shortage we kind of chuckle – that’s great to say from a high level think tank, but down at the HR level – they know they cannot find the talent. We need to fill the open teaching positions in Arizona now.

The post Arizona Open Teaching Positions “Crisis” appeared first on Teachers of Tomorrow.