Teacher Pool Dwindling: More Evidence

Madville Times commenters shouldn't worry about teachers "whining" about low pay. The real trouble comes when the teachers stop whining and look for work elsewhere, leaving the schools unstaffed and the kids untaught (unless everyone plans to homeschool).

Dr. Schaff at SD Politics directs our attention to this Aberdeen American News article on the dwindling candidate pool for teaching positions in the Aberdeen area. This summer Ellendale High School in ND got three applicants for an English position. Webster Superintendent Jim Block sees a 30% decrease in the elementary teaching applicant pool. Block cites even worse numbers at the secondary level:

Although Webster hasn't had a lot of openings lately, they've still been affected, Block said. One of his most recent hires was for a social studies position.

"You used to get 50 applicants," Block said. "I think I had seven. I interviewed the top four. There's not the pool there was before." [Emily Arthur-Richardt, "Wanted: Educators," Aberdeen American News, 2007.11.25].

If you don't think the decline in applicants constitutes a crisis yet, well, bully for you and your low blood pressure. But here's our choice, parents and taxpayers: we can solve the problem before it's a crisis, or we can let our schools go through a few years of having the football coach also teach 100-student sections of algebra and chemistry before taking action. Either way, we need to find the money to make it worth a young graduate's while to enter the profession.