Education workforce report shows challenges facing Michigan’s K-12 schools
Teacher absences and vacancies are impacting student learning and school operations as teacher absence rates increased and the substitute teacher fill-rate declined.
By Jennifer Chambers
On October 9, 2023
A year-long study examining the challenges facing Michigan’s K-12 workforce found that teacher absences and vacancies are impacting student learning and school operations as teacher absence rates increased and the substitute teacher fill-rate declined.
At the same time, increased competition over teachers by school districts has led to widespread teacher mobility, including recruitment by neighboring districts, officials with the Michigan Alliance For Student Opportunity found in a new 249-page report released on Monday.
The Alliance, a group of member school districts that serve students in economically disadvantaged districts, and researchers from Michigan State University and the University of Michigan, examined Michigan’s education workforce and the challenges it faces. The report was made possible through grant funding from the State of Michigan and was released in collaboration with Public Policy Associates.
Peter Spadafore, executive director of the Michigan Alliance for Student Opportunity, said the report shows what educators have known for a while: the K-12 workforce shortage acutely affects schools in economically disadvantaged districts.
“As school districts face dwindling resources post-pandemic, we must address the shortfalls confronting our school districts,” Spadafore said. “This will be a challenge, but we must act now to set our students, teachers, and schools on a course for success.”
The 12-month study investigated the scope of staffing challenges in all sectors of Michigan’s education system and identified how other states and districts have responded to these challenges, officials said.
It included an analysis of state-level and local administrative personnel data; surveys and interviews of central office administrators, school leaders, teachers, substitutes and other staff; and an intensive review of the existing research literature and the strategies of other states for strengthening the K-12 labor force.
Both state administrative data and reporting from district administrators and school leaders found there has been an increase in vacancies in the K-12 workforce and decline in the number and quality of applicants for open positions. Shortages are severe for special education and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) teachers, substitute teachers, paraprofessionals, and bus drivers.
“Many district leaders deeply feel the impact of the educator shortage,” Jacqueline Gardner, the director of data and evaluation in MSU’s Office of K-12 Outreach, said of the report. “Their experiences are incredibly nuanced. While one district may have once had hundreds of applicants and now only has a handful for one teacher vacancy, another district may have an increase in the number of vacancies with no reprieve in sight.”
Chris Torres, a principal investigator in the report and an associate professor at the Marsal Family School of Education at the University of Michigan, said economically-disadvantaged districts have fared the worst.
“In the last couple of years, schools across the state have experienced increased vacancies, more intense competition for staff, and a steep decline in applicants for all kinds of positions,” Torres said “It’s not just teachers, but substitutes, paraprofessionals, and other roles as well. It’s a particular problem for low-income and rural districts, and has a negative impact on communities, families, and educators alike.”
A shortage of teachers and school staff has been one of Michigan’s biggest challenges for more than a decade, educators said, yet no one can put an exact number on how many unfilled jobs currently exist. That’s because Michigan’s 835 local school districts are not required to report vacancies when they happen.
Michigan public schools employed about 349,000 people for the 2021-22 year, state data showed, and staffing was up by nearly 11,000 employees compared with the year prior. Last school year, 2022-23, the number dropped to 348,123 people.
Efforts to fill school staff vacancies are happening as enrollment statewide remains down by about 56,000 students from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many families began homeschooling during the pandemic. Districts across the state are monitoring the return of students. There also continues to be a decrease in enrollment as birth rates keep declining across the state and nation.
Last December Michigan educators announced a statewide partnership to address the K-12 teacher shortage that includes apprenticeships, paid student-teaching experiences and zero-debt pathways to develop future educators.
“Talent Together” is a consortium of 39 intermediate school districts spanning 63 counties from the Upper Peninsula to Southeast Michigan that aims to create new routes for aspiring teachers of all education levels, including those who do not yet have a bachelor’s degree.
Across Michigan, superintendent turnover also has become a concern in recent years. Vacancies are the result of some retirements and some resignations, officials said, and at the same time, there’s a shrinking pool of superintendent candidates to offer districts.
This piece was republished from The Detroit News.