The Teacher Shortage

In case you've been hiding under a rock over the past few years, I'd like to point out that there is a teacher shortage in our state and across our nation. As a principal, I can tell you that it certainly has gotten more difficult to find candidates for teaching positions. A decade ago, I could scan through a list of recent graduates or select from a pool of people that applied online. Today, depending on the position, it's more like finding one candidate that you can work with and train to become a great teacher. It's a problem that isn't singular to teaching right now, as the job market has greatly expanded and left many industries searching for human capital to fill their needs. So why is a teacher shortage considered a crisis while others are not? The answer is simple: We don't have the time. A labor shortage in manufacturing means you have to wait for the products that you want a little longer. There's a similar wait for sectors of the service industry that annoys us when we want something now. But a teacher shortage doesn't get the benefit of waiting. When students don't have a teacher, that time is lost and will likely never come back. It's a huge opportunity cost that impacts every child in every room that is left without a qualified person to guide and instruct them. 

This crisis hasn't been ignored as education leaders and policymakers struggle to rework licensure pathways and fight for improved salaries to attract and retain people to education. And while making teaching an economically competitive occupation is necessary, if any of us is being honest, it's not why we chose the job. Most of us chose to be a teacher because we were inspired by other teachers. Maybe it was a family member or maybe it was someone that taught you. That inspiration sparked interest in something that we could see ourselves doing. And while lawmakers work to improve salaries and budgets to make schools run, it's that other part that I think we need to work on. That's the part that is in our control. 

So here's my big question: Do our students look at us and see the parts of our job that we enjoy? I'm sure they hear the news on teacher pay and undoubtedly they see frustration of the bad days, but hopefully they also see it when you enjoy what you do and feel effective in what you have accomplished. I strongly believe that you are what you pay attention to and if we are only focused on the negative parts of teaching, then no matter what pay scale gets adopted, we will miss out on a generation of potential educators because they never got to see the enjoyment of education. So while we push policymakers to improve the things within their control, I believe it is up to us to promote the things that we control. I sincerely want you to enjoy your job, but more importantly, I want your students to know that you do. The generation that follows them depends on it.