There's a serious teacher shortage in Kansas City and across the country, as fewer people pursue a career that often involves low pay, high stress and lack of community support.
Missouri鈥檚 teaching colleges are battling that trend, trying new strategies to attract students pursuing education degrees and to answer a vital need for quality instructors in every classroom.
鈥淲e are reaching out to the high schools,鈥� said David Hough, dean of Missouri State University鈥檚 College of Education, 鈥渢rying to change that narrative and trying to convince people it really is a good career despite the negatives.鈥�
The number of undergraduate degrees nationally peaked at nearly 200,000 in the early 1970s and has dropped to less than half that today. So the pipeline for new teachers has .
Kathryn Chval, dean of the University of Missouri College of Education, attributed part of the problem to a barrage of negative media.
鈥淲e have a media issue, I would say, a PR issue, with the teaching field,鈥� she said. But Chval also acknowledged that teachers don鈥檛 command the respect they deserve and often battle paltry starting salaries, a lack of resources and difficult teaching assignments.
It certainly doesn鈥檛 help that in average starting teaching salaries, coming in at $31,842 in 2018, compared to a national average of $38,617.
Still, Hough said, people need to realize teaching remains a very rewarding career, with the chance to make a profound difference in the lives of children. And, he notes, the retirement benefits are good.
鈥淪imilar to the military,鈥� he said, 鈥渁fter 30 years, at the age of 52, you can retire from teaching and still have many years left to work another job if you wanted to.鈥�
Both Chval and Hough said they are working hard to boost the ranks of students pursuing education degrees. They are also striving to attract a diverse student body to meet the multicultural needs of the classroom of the future.
Attracting new students
鈥淵ou have to be out in the high schools talking to young people,鈥� Chval said, adding that MU has an aggressive recruiting program throughout Missouri high schools.
It鈥檚 paying off, Chval said, with the education college鈥檚 opening day enrollment up 37 percent this fall, at 239 students versus 174 in 2018.
Missouri State University鈥檚 education college has just launched a program that sends its alumni into Missouri鈥檚 high schools, asking them to talk up teaching as a wonderful career.
The number of undergraduate education majors at MSU has declined slightly in recent years, from 1,496 in 2016 to 1,345 so far this fall. But total education enrollment, including graduate students, is at 2,322 so far this fall, compared to 2,149 in 2016.
MSU鈥檚 Master of Arts education certification helps professionals in other careers transition to teaching. In one success story, Hough said, a man who retired from Dow Chemical in his mid-50s ended up teaching chemistry in a rural Ozarks school.
鈥淚鈥檓 thinking wow how cool is that,鈥� Hough said, 鈥渢o be in a rural school and have somebody like that.鈥�
MU has a scholarship program to attract future teachers from minority and underrepresented groups, and MSU also actively recruits students of color to pursue teaching degrees.
鈥淥ur school districts are asking us for teachers of color,鈥� Chval said.
Better pay
One obvious solution to the teacher shortage would be to improve salaries. Hough and Chval said they see some reasons for hope.
Chval noted that recent teacher protests and strikes in other states have sometimes drawn strong public support.
鈥淭he narrative has even changed on that, and people can understand it,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e are going to have to start thinking about what do we invest in our teaching workforce so that our communities have the best teachers.鈥�
Hough was encouraged that Missouri Gov. Mike Parson talked about at a conference earlier this summer.
鈥淚鈥檓 guardedly optimistic,鈥� Hough said about the prospects for a better teacher pay plan in Missouri. 鈥淚t might just produce something in the next year or two.鈥�
Kathryn Chval, dean of the University of Missouri鈥檚 College of Education, and David Hough, dean of Missouri State University鈥檚 College of Education, spoke with KCUR 89.3 on a recent edition .
Lynn Horsley is a freelance journalist and was a veteran reporter for The Kansas City Star. Follow her on Twitter @LynnHorsley
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