VCC Magazine Fall 2017

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Virginia C apitol C onnections, Fall 2017
8
Virginia’s Growing
Teacher Shortage Crisis
By Dietra Trent, Virginia Secretary of Education
Remember the teacher who changed
the way you see the world, the one who
taught you to love learning and fostered
your intellectual curiosity? Mine was my
first grade teacher, a woman who inspired
a love of learning, made every child feel
known and their talents appreciated, and
expected academic excellence from all her
students. She was also my Grandmother,
and the profound impact she had on my life
was compounded by her dual roles.
Now imagine what your life would be
like if that teacher had never existed.
Unfortunately that is an increasingly common reality for
students around the Commonwealth. We are facing a growing
teacher shortage. Last year, statewide Virginia had more than 1,000
unfilled teaching positions as of October 1st, a number that has
been rising for years. Meanwhile, enrollment in Virginia teacher
preparation programs has fallen, as it has nationwide.
The teacher shortage looks slightly different in each region of
the state, but the problem is growing throughout the Commonwealth.
By sheer volume, our largest divisions have the greatest number
of vacancies, but as a percentage of the total number of employed
teachers, Region 8 (Buckingham south to Mecklenburg) has the
deepest shortage, followed by Region 3 (the Northern Neck).
Southwest needs high school math teachers, NorthernVirginia needs
special education teachers, and Hampton Roads needs elementary
school teachers. But the numbers are climbing in many disciplines
and many divisions.
The shortage is taking place as our overall student population
continues to grow, the number of English language learners expands
even more rapidly, and the number of students living in poverty
climbs steadily—a trend that has mercifully begun to reverse in the
last few years.
While the numbers and data are helpful in understanding
changing trends and patterns, some of the anecdotes are more
powerful. For example, if you were a 6th grader in Petersburg
Public Schools last year, there wasn’t a single day during the school
year that you had a qualified math instructor teaching your math
class. And yet, we expected you to pass your SOL test and advance
to middle school math without any need for remediation.
The single biggest predictor of student success is access to
quality instruction. Every child needs and deserves teachers who
are qualified to help that student succeed at a particular age or in a
particular discipline.
Legislative Counsel
John G. “Chip” Dicks
FutureLaw, LLC
1802 Bayberry Court, Suite 403
Richmond, Virginia 23226
(804) 225-5507 (Direct Dial)
(804) 225-5508 (Fax)
Genuine student-teacher relationships are a prerequisite for
real learning, which is why it’s also important that our children
have teachers with whom they can identify. Research indicates
that learning from racially diverse teachers can positively impact
academic outcomes for students of color.
Unfortunately, Virginia’s educators aren’t often representative
of the communities they teach. In fact, 21% of our educators are
nonwhite, while 49% of our student population is nonwhite. This
disparity poses a unique threat to the success of our students of
color.
When talking about this issue with others, the first question
I receive is typically: “Is this just a compensation issue?” The
answer is partially yes, but we need to do more than just address
compensation. Our teachers deserve better salaries, as well as
access to scholarships, loan forgiveness, and other benefits that help
lessen the financial burden so many of them experience.
But a desirable working environment and smooth licensure
pathways into the profession must be considered too. Over the years,
we have saddled teachers with the responsibility of administering
an endless battery of standardized assessments to their students.
We have emphasized rote learning and regurgitation over critical
thinking and creative problem solving in the classroom. We have
added to the licensure and recertification requirements, including
a battery of standardized tests for prospective teachers themselves.
With all these challenges, is it really surprising that so many
talented educators are leaving the classroom or, worse yet, never
even getting there?
If there were a simple dollars and cents solution for these
issues, the McAuliffe administration would have uncovered it. We
fought hard to ensure teachers received a much-deserved raise and
are proud of our historic investment in Virginia’s public schools.
But money alone can’t fix this issue.
Fortunately, a vast coalition of advocates is fighting for
Virginia’s students and teachers.
The business community recognizes the impacts this issue
could have on Virginia’s future workforce and is working to
find solutions. The Commonwealth’s school board members,
superintendents and principals are painfully aware of the unique
shortages in their schools and are working creatively to address it
in their communities. Our teacher preparation programs understand
their models must adapt to meet the needs of a modern public
education system.
As a state, our solutions must be as varied as the root causes
of the problem. That’s why I convened a state-wide task force
to develop concrete plans to improve diversity in our educator
pipeline. Additionally, at the Governor’s request, the Virginia
Board of Education and the State Council of Higher Education
have partnered to assess and address the root causes of the teacher
shortage, and we anticipate their preliminary report later this month.
And in late October, the Governor and I will co-host a summit
with the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education and
UVA K-12 Advisory Council to discuss this
complex issue and strategize about actions
many different stakeholders can take to turn
the tide.
Regardless of the outcome of theNovember
election, I hope Virginia’s next Governor
will continue attacking this issue with every
resource at his disposal. The Commonwealth’s
teacher shortage cannot be solved in a single
budget cycle or administration, but our
collective efforts will yield results. As long as
we remain engaged and keep working together,
I have every confidence we will overcome this
challenge for our teachers, our students, and
our future.V