Mesa, Arizona – With teacher shortages, school districts across the country are shortening the school week and packing more students into classrooms. He is just one state in Arizona, where nearly a quarter of teaching positions remain vacant at any given time.
In Arizona, school districts are scrambling to fill some of these jobs, but half of them are filled by people without the proper qualifications.
Representatives from Phoenix-area school districts say they’ve been feeling this shortage for nearly a decade, and there’s no end in sight.
Arizona school districts have been experiencing a teacher shortage for nearly a decade. (Littleton School District)
“Do you want to pay off your student loans? Yes. Do you want to take a vacation? Yes. Do you want to work every summer or every winter break to pay your bills? Living paycheck to paycheck? Yes,” said Cassandra Lockard, a new teacher leader in the Littleton School District.
Cassandra Lockard has been a teacher for 16 years, but she says she probably won’t be able to pay off her debt because teachers are poorly paid.
Arizona needed 7,500 teachers at the beginning of last school year. (Littleton School District)
More teachers are quitting their jobs across the U.S. due to burnout and low pay.
Lockard is qualified to teach history, but last year she had to step up and teach science to 55 students.
“I was so nervous. Did they pass the state science exam? No, they didn’t. Because how am I going to get 55 kids to pass the state science exam by myself? ?I don’t currently qualify for the state science exam because I’m a science teacher,” Lockard said.
California bill requires schools to reduce homework to alleviate student mental health crisis
In some states, including Nevada, Arizona, Illinois, Florida and Michigan, more than half of school districts are struggling to fill school vacancies.
At the beginning of last school year, Arizona still needed about 7,500 teachers. States rely on uncertified teachers to fill the gaps.
Approximately 20 to 25 percent of teaching positions remain vacant in Arizona each year. (Mesa Public Schools)
“When you have a teacher shortage, it means you have teachers who are less qualified. And we often see a decline in correlating data. This is a concern for everyone. Oh, the kids aren’t doing as well. Well, if you’re not going to pay us and we can’t find people to put them in the classroom, it makes sense that the data will go down.” Lockard said.
As one solution to alleviating the shortage, some school districts are creating alternative routes to becoming a teacher.
Chicago Teachers Union slams demand for $50 billion over plummeting school grades: ‘Most radical agenda yet’
“Of the 7,500 people, about 4,000 were hired through alternative means. Alternative means they are taking a different path, changing their career. That means they may be in a business setting. Or maybe they have a college degree in another field,” said Justin Wing, assistant director of human resources for Mesa Public Schools.
Mesa Public Schools has another path for individuals to become teachers. (Mesa Public Schools)
Wing said this pathway removes financial and time barriers for those who want to become teachers.
Click here to read more from FOX News
“We are in our second year of hosting our own certification program, so if you have a degree in another field, you can become a teacher tomorrow. We’re going to invest in you and help you become the best teacher you can be,’ and when you complete our two-year program, you’ll have a full teaching qualification,” Wing said. “The Arizona Department of Education is going to give them a full teaching license, a 12-year teaching license.”
School districts across the country are also hiring from overseas to fill teacher shortages.
