Help Wanted: Lansing-area schools looking to hire teachers as statewide shortage continues

Schools are taking a number of steps, including increasing salaries, offering more professional development time and limiting the time it takes to earn a raise in hopes of attracting more teachers amid a long-term shortage.

Michigan schools collectively lost 721 teachers in the fall of 2020, according to a 2021 Michigan State University Education Policy Innovation Collaborative report, just after the COVID-19 pandemic began. The 0.9% drop in active teachers marked the third-largest decrease over the last decade.

Lansing-area schools were no exception.

Going into the summer, school districts throughout Greater Lansing have more than 100 teaching positions posted — and that’s not including openings for specialists, non-educational staff and paraprofessionals.

Lansing School District, the largest of mid-Michigan’s public school districts, had 55 teaching positions posted as of Friday. And that number likely will increase before the new school year starts in the fall.

“We usually will see this type of turnover, so the number of classroom teachers is not surprising,” said Suzy Corbin, Lansing School District’s human resources executive director. “We will see an increase of resignations and/or retirements at the end of the year and, unfortunately, again in August prior to school starting.”

Going into the summer, here’s the current approximate number of teaching positions local schools have posted:

• Lansing School District: 55

• Holt Public Schools: At least 2

• Okemos Public Schools: 23

• East Lansing Public Schools: 6

• DeWitt Public Schools: 6

• Waverly Community Schools: 8

• St. Johns Public Schools: 2

• Haslett Public Schools: 4

• Charlotte Public Schools: 12

• Eaton Rapids Public Schools: 7

• Williamston Community Schools: 3

• Ovid-Elsie Area Schools: 3

• Potterville Public Schools: At least 6

Training future teachers

The roots of the teacher shortage can be found in college education programs.

Over the last decade, enrollment in college teacher preparation programs fell nationwide, but the problem was especially prevalent in Michigan. Between 2008-09 and 2018-19, enrollment in teacher preparation programs at Michigan colleges and universities fell by 56%, more than double the 22% decrease experienced nationwide during the same time, according to the EPIC report.

The MSU College of Education saw its enrollment grow from 3,042 students in fall 2020 to 3,045 in fall 2021, according to MSU Office of the Registrar data, marking the first enrollment increase for the college over the last decade.

Despite the increase, enrollment is still far short of 2012, when 4,138 students were enrolled in the College of Education.

The College of Education enrollment decline also reflects that there are fewer students going to college now overall. Michigan's 15 public universities have lost more than 38,000 students — a 12.7% decline — in the last decade.

Read more: Enrollment is plummeting at most Michigan colleges. Why it's rising at MSU

“Our enrollment has stabilized,” said Gail Richmond, director of teacher preparation programs at MSU. “We are working very hard to reduce the barriers for students to move through the program. Most of those barriers are about finances. We’re not alone in trying to address that.”

To address the financial constraints, officials are looking at reducing the teacher education program from five years to four, she said, which would save students thousands of dollars in tuition. There is also work ongoing to make more financial resources, like scholarships, available.

Another key is to identify potential future teachers early. For instance, MSU launched a “Grow Your Own” initiative last fall through which the teacher preparation program partners with K-12 schools to find students who might be interested in pursuing an education degree, and possibly return to a job at their home school system.

And once they become teachers, higher salaries and more respect for the profession will help keep them in the field, Richmond said.

That's a point the Michigan Education Association, the union that represents many state teachers, recently made.

In a Michigan Education Association survey of nearly 2,600 educators, 85% said increasing salary and benefits would increase retention of educators, while 73% said significant retention bonuses would help keep teachers in the classroom.

Another 64% favored replacing the state's current educator evaluation system with one that is more effective and fair, with 61% saying that hiring more staff to reduce workloads would help with retention.

“This survey proves what we already knew: Michigan’s teachers, support staff and other public school employees are at a breaking point,” said MEA President Paula Herbart, in a Feb. 14 press release. “The educator shortage is having a daily impact on students and educators alike. This is adding to already overwhelming pressure caused by meeting students’ academic, social and emotional needs while also dealing with COVID-19, unfair evaluations, standardized testing, the threat of school violence and so much more.”

At least two local school districts are taking those kinds of comments into consideration.

At East Lansing Public Schools, a new contract has been adopted that increased starting wages for teachers to $43,038, an increase of about $2,000 from starting wages as of last summer. The new contract also includes a consolidated step schedule, Superintendent Dori Leyko said, allowing teachers to reach the top step of the salary schedule quicker.

Lansing School District will offer teachers a $1,000 stipend per semester during the 2022-23 school year as another step toward attracting teachers, Corbin said. The district is increasing the salary schedule for teachers by 0.5% next year, she said.

Contact Mark Johnson at (517) 377-1026 or majohnson2@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ByMarkJohnson.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Lansing-area schools looking to hire dozens of teachers