Eye On Illinois: Boosting salaries not the best way to address teacher shortage

Illinois has a teacher shortage, and money alone won’t fix the problem.

The Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools conducted staffing surveys last fall and used those findings to develop policy suggestions pushed this week. Ideas include loan forgiveness for teachers hired in areas with significant shortages, amending rules regarding mandatory retirement age for full benefits and tweaking certification systems.

These ideas all warrant attention because, as IARSS President Mark Klaisner told Capitol News Illinois, simply beefing up salaries isn’t a solution. Lawmakers did raise the statewide minimum salary for teachers in 2019, but districts with more money per pupil offer better pay. Certainly the cost of living in or near those districts is a factor, but having a deeper property tax base gives wealthier communities a distinct advantage.

Beefing up the Illinois Teachers Loan Repayment Program, and expanding the eligibility beyond just districts meeting the U.S. Department of Education’s low income standards, would be good steps.

Consider a Woodstock resident who gets a teaching degree from Bradley University. What’s a faster way to pay off a five-figure student loan: living at home or with some college roommates or heading off alone to a far-flung low-income county for at least five years?

The IARSS reported a district’s location was the top recruitment challenge, ahead of both salary and pension. When it controlled for enrollment, the leading predictor of staff shortages and poor retention rates was the student body’s racial makeup.

In addition to broadening criteria for loan forgiveness and other incentive programs, the state needs to investigate what it can do to help people who graduate from these districts return as qualified teachers.

“We see all over the state, the demographics are very clear that oftentimes our staffs don’t represent the students that they serve, and we feel like that would be a value add, if not essential,” Klaisner said.

Last month I examined Senate Bill 1832, a plan to let community colleges offer bachelor’s degrees and professional teaching licenses for early childhood education. It’s good to see discussion of further expanding those opportunities, such as programs for endorsement areas with the biggest shortages, like special education and math.

Without criticizing teacher education programs at public and private four-year schools, the 40-plus community college districts are ideally situated to address the present problem by developing programs to draw former teachers back into the workforce or to re-certify those who might be willing to fill gaps but for the time and expense involved in pursuing additional education.

Obviously such efforts carry a cost, but expanded teacher training is a better long-term investment than just boosting salaries — not just for understaffed schools but also in terms of a stronger overall workforce.

• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. Follow him on Twitter at @sth749. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.