Rick Patrick: Greene Publishing, Inc.
This is the fifth in a series of weekly articles about the challenges facing our school district, and the measures proposed to meet those challenges.
According to several sources, there is a shortage of good teachers nationwide. In Florida, this trend seems to be hitting even harder. According to the group, Teachers of Tomorrow, Florida is one of the states where the teaching shortage is most prevailing, with a nearly 6,000 shortfall in teachers.
Without beaches, amusement parks, and shopping malls to attract new, young teachers; for rural areas such as Madison County, it becomes even harder to attract new teachers. According to Madison County Central School Principal, David Chambers, there is a great deal of competition for teachers, and with the relatively low salaries and the isolation of rural areas, it is difficult for places such as Madison to compete. “We have to try and entice them with the quality education we offer for the kids,” said Chambers. It is a problem that Superintendent of Schools Dr. Karen Pickles is well aware of. “It's hard when a young person asks 'What kind of night-life does the town have?' or 'Are there any shopping malls?',” said Pickles. “So many young teachers go to the bigger cities, or they come here for a year or so, then move on to another district.” One way to attempt to correct this is to encourage good teachers to stay by getting them to sign contracts as soon as possible for the next school year. Another challenge facing the local school district is the number of teachers with temporary certification failing to take steps toward full professional certification. When a new teacher is hired, they often are hired on the basis of a “Letter of Eligibility” from the Florida Department of Education (FDOE) stating the teacher is eligible for temporary certification in their given subject area. After a teacher is hired, he/she can obtain a Temporary Certificate which is good for a maximum of three years. During the first year of teaching, the teacher must pass a general knowledge test administered by the FDOE. They must also pass a subject area test within three years. Those who fail to pass the general knowledge test within that first year cannot be rehired. This has been an issue in Madison County. Pickles is considering a proposal to set deadlines for new teachers to help them stay on track to meet the requirements for their full professional certification. Another way to keep young teachers in the Madison District is with a mentoring program, which pairs young teachers with more experienced teachers, to help the newer teachers with issues that commonly arise. This is a very popular program according to Pickles. “We do support our new teachers,” said Pickles.
Another obstacle to attracting and retaining good teachers in Madison is the relatively low pay for teachers in the district. In the 2015-16 school year, the average salary for a teacher in the state of Florida was $48,179. In Madison County, for that same year, the average salary for a teacher was $39,808. Only three counties in the state had a lower average teacher salary: Union County with $39,044, Gadsden County with $35,474, and Holmes County with $33,202. Elsewhere in the state, Monroe County had an average teacher salary of $58,389 and Broward County had an average salary of $56,799. It is still too early to see what the current state legislature will do in terms of making money available for teacher recruitment. The “Best and Brightest” program does make money available for some districts to award teachers based on their ACT or SAT scores. In the past, there have been some Madison County teachers who were eligible for this award.
One major problem is the fact that fewer and fewer young people are interested in going into the teaching profession. According to Pickles, Florida State University is down to only 60 education majors. That is hardly enough to meet the needs of 67 counties in the state. As a way of encouraging young people to go into the teaching profession, the Florida Retired Educators Foundation (FREF) sponsors a cash scholarship for students interested in teaching in Florida. These cash scholarships amount to $1,000 per year over a four year period. Since 1980, the FREF has awarded over $1 million to more than 400 students. Over the years, one Madison County resident has been awarded one of these scholarships. For the past few years there have been no applicants. Any high school senior interested in one of these scholarships should contact their high school guidance counselor for more information.
While there is a general shortage of teachers across the board, in certain subject areas, that shortage is even more profound. The FDOE has listed the areas of critical teacher shortage. These areas include: science, math, English, reading, English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), and Exceptional Student Education (ESE). Madison County does follow the state-wide trend of having critical need for teachers in these areas.
Just what can be done to solve the problem of teacher shortages in rural areas such as Madison County is difficult to determine. The need is great. Perhaps part of the solution lies with the young people of Madison. The best of our own young people must be encouraged to go into the teaching profession and bring those skills back home to Madison. Many of our teachers currently in the school district have done just that. More are needed. “We need to grow our own,” said Pickles.