I find it interesting to note how both ed reformers and resisters are appropriating the most-recent iteration of the "teacher shortage" phenomenon. Ed reformers use it to suggest TFA solutions, nix certification requirements, and usher in a cheap and compliant labor force. Resistors say ed policy has become so toxic, people just don't want to be teachers anymore. They point to certain cities and dropping numbers in teacher ed programs and "teacher flight."
The truth is somewhere in the middle, but there are truths both sides are ignoring as well. For example, in citing Albuquerque's teacher shortage, no one has reported that other local districts have laid off good teachers due to budgets but that Albuquerque may not have hired those experienced teachers even though they live nearby. I only know about it due to having a former student teaching in the area.
Another reality that ed professors, school administrators, resistors and reformers do not want to acknowledge due to nuance is that there may be many applicants for positions in certain areas claiming a teacher shortage, but the admins in those districts don't want to hire people who they see as problematic to the ed reform agenda. To my mind, this would be anyone who is a graduate from a teacher ed program worth its salt.
So, while some districts might experience a genuine teacher shortage -- and might have done so for years in certain content areas -- others are most likely experiencing a self-induced hiring shortage instead to help their overlords reward the types of people who will serve them best in teaching positions while they turn away well-trained, educated, even experienced and licensed applicants.
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