Nearly two years ago, one of Missouri's top education officials said the state amid a chronic teacher shortage.
Little has changed in the months since Charlie Shields, the state Board of Education鈥檚 president, sounded that alarm. A recent report found that numerous teaching positions were either vacant or filled by individuals who were not fully certified.
The need is especially acute in areas classified as "critical," which includes elementary classrooms, early childhood education and special education. About 3,325 of those positions are vacant. More vacancies were found in positions classified as "high need," which includes math and sciences.
Paul Katnik, who oversaw the report as the head of DESE鈥檚 Office of Educator Quality, said the teacher shortage started before the pandemic, but has accelerated in the years since.
鈥淚t's the worst right now than it's ever been so I don't know a better reason to get urgent about something,鈥� Katnik told KCUR. 鈥淚 can't think of any reason why uneducated kids in our state is good for anybody so it should be something that's on all of our radar.鈥�
A formed by the Board of Education was tasked in June 2022 with finding solutions to the state鈥檚 struggle with teacher recruitment and retention.
The commission has to form two sets of recommendations 鈥� one recommending changes for teacher compensation and the other focusing on school climate and culture.
Some of those recommendations have found success, but others have hit legislative and logistical roadblocks.
Teacher pay and compensation
Missouri's teachers are among the country's worst-paid, making it hard for school districts across the state to keep and attract educators.
That鈥檚 why pay was one of the state commission鈥檚 biggest takeaways.
The average starting salary for Missouri鈥檚 teachers is just above $34,000. According to , only Montana pays new teachers less. The state鈥檚 average teacher salary ranks 47th in the country, at $52,481.
Missouri Sen. Lauren Arthur, a Democrat from Clay County who served as a member of the commission, said low pay is driving teachers to take jobs elsewhere.
鈥淲e've seen a lot of teachers along that southern border, who live in Missouri, commute to work in Arkansas because the pay is so much better,鈥� Arthur said.
The commission鈥檚 final recommendations included amending the state鈥檚 minimum teacher salary to at least $38,000 and requiring annual reviews to ensure pay remains competitive. The base salary for Missouri teachers is currently set by state law at $25,000.
The state is currently making up the difference through that increases starting salaries to $38,000 for participating school districts. In its first year, the program only funded 70% of the cost of the raise; districts paid the remaining 30%.
This year, the state will cover the full cost for districts raising salaries.
Katnik said that grant helps Missouri compete with other states, but its neighbors are also finding ways to inch up their pay. He also said the grant doesn鈥檛 help teachers with more experience.
鈥淧eople who have been teaching for a while, suddenly the new people are making just a couple thousand less than them, and they haven't gotten a raise,鈥� Katnick said.
One recommendation that does help experienced teachers is the 鈥渃areer ladder program,鈥� which allows teachers to be compensated up to $5,000 for work outside of the classroom. The program didn鈥檛 before lawmakers revived it in 2022.
Another recommendation to fund the 鈥溾�� also garnered support through the state budget last year. The program allows grants to be given to schools to support students and staff in their own schools to become teachers.
Arthur said the legislature has been able to fund a lot of the commission鈥檚 priorities through the state budget. But continued progress will require the legislature to keep appropriating funding.
鈥淲e hope to pass accompanying legislation to make these changes permanent,鈥� Arthur said. 鈥淏ut it's a really encouraging first step.鈥�
Creating ways for districts to retain teachers
Teacher pay wasn't the only concern the commission heard from teachers about why they鈥檙e leaving the field. Its second set of recommendations revolved around ways to improve school culture and climate.
Missouri Rep. Ingrid Burnett, a Democrat from Kansas City who served as a member of the commission, said she noticed escalating disruptive student behavior in the 1990s when she was a school counselor.
At the same time, Burnett said numbers of support staff in the classroom were declining.
鈥淲e can't continue to treat our teachers this way,鈥� Burnett said. 鈥淭hat was the passion that I came to the commission with, that we would find a way to get support staff in the classroom.鈥�
Burnett said she managed to allot money in last year鈥檚 budget towards a fund enabling schools to hire support staff. But Gov. Mike Parson vetoed the provision.
Some commission recommendations 鈥� like providing leadership training for administrators to better support teachers 鈥� wouldn鈥檛 rely on legislative support. Another recommendation is a master鈥檚 teaching certificate allowing teachers to be compensated more without needing to pay for an advanced degree.
These changes would need buy-in from school districts, and may still include some financial hurdles.
鈥淚 think school districts could do just about any of these things if they made it a priority,鈥� Burnett said. 鈥淏ut we don't fund education at the level that it needs to be funded.鈥�
Some progress this session, but also controversy
The Missouri Senate that satisfies some of the recommendations from the Board of Education鈥檚 commission.
Those include increasing the minimum salary to $40,000 for new teachers and eventually to $48,000 for experienced teachers with a master鈥檚 degree. The bill would also create a teacher recruitment scholarship program and allow more flexibility for the career ladder program.
, now under consideration in the House, began as an expansion of MOScholars, the state鈥檚 tax-credit scholarship program, and would also allow charter schools in Boone County.
The Missouri National Education Association , but remains opposed because of concerns it would expand charter schools into communities without consulting the local school board and divert resources away from neighborhood public schools.
Arthur voted 鈥榥o鈥� on the bill because she opposes vouchers. But she said Democrats managed to get concessions in the legislation, like the teacher pay boost, that would make a difference for the public schools.
鈥淲e thought that it was important that if Missouri Republicans wanted to expand school choice, that we fought for things that we're hearing are needed in schools,鈥� Arthur said.
