The Coming Teacher Shortage: What Schools Can Do about It.

Increased enrollments combined with teacher retirements and resignations are creating a strain on the current supply of qualified teachers. As the demand for new teachers is increasing, the number of new teaching graduates is decreasing proportionally. A national teacher shortage is imminent and already exists is some locations and in some subjects areas such as math and science. In Oregon, a recession has curbed the crisis, but retirements and resignations could create a shortage within the next four years. Historically, there have been four responses to a severe teacher shortage: (1) raid other schools; (2) drop standards for entering the teaching field; (3) raise the student/teacher ratio; and (4) use misassignments and emergency certification. All four have proved to be unsatisfactory. A positive step that can be taken is to talk now with the state Legislatures, the Department of Education, and the professional organizations about the need to prevent any drastic decrease in teaching quality. Districts should also look closely at hiring patterns and at training mentor teachers. Job sharing should be encouraged and recent retirees should be viewed as a major resource. The use of extracurricular support personnel and the role of technology should also be considered. (GJ)