Some Iowa Districts Still Trying To Find Teachers

Statewide Iowa — (RI) — Thousands of kids will soon be heading back to school with their backpacks and school supplies — but some school districts are still scrambling to find teachers.

Teacher preparation consultant, Larry Bice, with the Iowa Department of Education says it is hard to nail down the exact number of teachers still needed. He does know there are key areas that have shortages.

He says many of the districts still looking for teachers are smaller districts.

Bice says they know based on a federal measuring stick that the special education teaching jobs have been hard to fill for many years.  

Bice says the job postings give some idea of how many openings there are, but he says you can’t get an exact count from them.

Also adding to the shortage is a drop in new teachers entering the market.

What happens if classes are ready to start and they don’t have enough teachers?

For some of the larger districts, teachers move around to different classrooms.

In some of the worst cases, schools get special licenses for teachers to fill a subject need.

Bice says Iowa is above the national average in retaining around 70 percent of its teachers in a five-year period. The national average is 50 percent.

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