Shortage of teachers felt in Katahdin region

Editor’s Note: Student Union is written by students at Hampden Academy, Brewer High School, John Bapst Memorial High School, Old Town High School, MDI High School, Ashland Community High School and Schenck High School in East Millinocket. The column is a joint effort among the schools, the Bangor Daily News and Acadia Hospital. This column was written by Schenck High School students. Their adviser is Eric Steeves.

It is becoming increasingly evident that there is a severe shortage of quality teachers throughout the state and the nation. Schools throughout the Katahdin region also have suffered the effects of this crisis. Many students and parents are questioning why there is such a shortage and what might be done to improve this situation.

Communities throughout Maine have been finding it increasingly difficult to attract and keep qualified teachers. Many teachers leave the profession after only two or three years for higher-paying occupations, less stressful work environments, and better opportunities for promotion.

Several factors have contributed to this shortage of educators. First, demands of the job are increasing dramatically with new initiatives such as Maine’s Learning Results and President Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act, which create more work and responsibilities for teachers.

Tim Surrette, who recently graduated from the University of Maine with a bachelor’s degree in secondary education said, “As a student teacher, I found the Learning Results initiative to be somewhat cumbersome and challenging to implement.”

Second, the Legislature, in 1993, dramatically changed the retirement provisions for all educators with less than 10 years’ experience, raising the age of retirement and increasing penalties for early retirement. In addition, health care benefits for teachers are subsidized at a much lower rate than that for other state employees.

Third, skilled people from other professions are reluctant to enter the field of education in Maine because they will face drastic cuts in Social Security benefits if they choose to become part of the Maine State Retirement System.

School Union 113 has found it especially difficult to find teachers at the secondary level because teachers are required to specialize in certain subject areas. J.A. Doe, principal of Schenck High School in East Millinocket, said, “The hardest-affected fields have been in the areas of foreign language, math, education specialties and science, but it is also becoming more difficult to attract teachers regardless of subject area. Many potential applicants are deciding to enter other professions such as business and health care because of better pay and benefits.”

The lack of qualified teachers throughout northern and eastern Maine has affected many school systems. One result is that many new teachers are working under conditional certifications and have limited expertise in the subject areas they are hired to teach. The teaching shortage also has led to the creation of the so-called “double-dipper” law. This allows retired teachers to re-enter the work force with full retirement benefits and still collect a regular salary from the school district they work for. Doe, who opposes this law, said, “The intent of the law was to alleviate a shortage of teachers within a school system, but many teachers and administrators not in high need areas are taking advantage of it. Over time it may cause problems because it may drain funding from the state retirement system.

And there’s another wrinkle, said Dale Fiske, president of the East Millinocket Teachers Association. “This new law takes potential promotional opportunities away from other teachers as many of those re-entering the work force as retired educators still maintain senior-level positions such as advisers and department heads.”

While the need for teachers is now great, the problem will only grow in the next few years because of the large number of teachers who are expected to retire. The state has realized the dire need for teachers and has implemented several new policies. One is to offer more scholarships and loan forgiveness plans to encourage college students to choose education as a career. Many schools also are attempting to recruit teachers by offering to pay for courses to advance their education under the condition that they work in the school system for a certain number of years. However, little has been done to make the profession more attractive from a salary, benefits and working conditions standpoint.

It is obvious that the teaching shortage needs to be rectified with the utmost urgency. In the Katahdin area, the poor economic situation will make it increasingly difficult to attract quality educators. As Fiske said: “In a recent survey of state school systems conducted by the Maine Educational Association, more that 75 percent of schools in the state offer better financial packages to beginning educators than schools in the Katahdin area do.”

Unfortunately, the teacher shortage is only going to get worse, and something will need to be done so that the youth of our state and the Katahdin area will continue to receive the quality education they deserve.