FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18) — In 2022, Kentucky Education Commissioner Dr. Jason Glass told lawmakers that about 72% of Kentucky's teachers are considered at risk of leaving the profession. He explained that out of Kentucky's 42,525 full-time equivalent teachers, 30,801 are considered at risk of leaving the profession. And 21,448 of them have been teaching for less than five years.
Later that year, the Kentucky Association of School Administrators (KASA) created the Coalition to Sustain the Education Profession. The group has since studied the "educator workforce crisis" and provided "data-driven recommendations for public, private, and government entities to implement." The results were presented at the Capitol on Monday.
“This work is centered around the urgent need for every single partner to come to the table to address this impending workforce crisis. While we are already experiencing deep shortages among education staff, the need for teachers, and the data showing us who is coming down the pipeline to become a teacher, is an absolute emergency. The time is now to figure out what we can do to entice, retain, and empower citizens to become amazing teachers in our schools. Failure to do so will have dire results,” Dr. Rhonda Caldwell, executive director of KASA.
The study led the coalition to suggest nine recommendations, which fall into six distinct strategies:
1. Conduct a comprehensive study of the state of Kentucky education.
2. Address teacher certification and qualification issues that impede teacher recruitment.
3. Analyze financial incentives to aid in statewide recruiting and retention efforts.
4. Create a legislative mandate to bring together data, programs, and processes across disparate agencies and organizations to create a single “Be a Kentucky Teacher” portal for teacher preparation, recruitment, and application.
5. Mandate that every school district implement a teacher recruitment and induction system and provide non-competitive grant funding to support the effort.
6. Develop a marketing plan to communicate to all Kentucky audiences the impact and importance of Kentucky educators and public education.
Governor Andy Beshear also emphasized the importance of raising pay.
"We should be paying them a wage to where they don't have to work a second job just to do what we're asking them to do," said Beshear.
Robbie Fletcher, the Lawrence County Schools Superintendent, said low pay is something teachers bring up when they are leaving their jobs.
"In Lawrence County, I can speak specifically to this one, from October to December, I had two teachers that left the profession, and the reason - I cannot afford, I cannot supply the needs of my children based on the salary that I'm earning," said Fletcher. "I have to find more money."
"If you ask superintendents across their districts, it would be scary to know how many teachers are working a second, maybe even a third, job just to make ends meet," he added.
House Education Chairman, Rep. James Tipton, made it clear the General Assembly will consider ways to help fix the teacher shortage. However, he highlighted that it's a complex issue, as there is more than one aspect driving teachers away.
"Overworked. Burnout. Additional duties. Discipline issues is one thing I've heard of recently," said Tipton. "So those are issues we have to look at, we have to examine, and try to figure out if we can come up with solutions to improve those situations - to improve the working conditions."
