The state Department of Education may have contributed to a shortage in teachers.
By:Brian Shappell
The state Department of Education may have contributed to a shortage in teachers.
A new state requirement that districts teach world languages in the elementary school has created a need for language teachers. That has left districts scrambling to find qualified teachers.
The state adopted new Core Content Curriculum Standards in 1996. The standards established state expectations in several subjects — including world language — for what a student should know by high school graduation.
The state also instituted tests at the fourth-, eighth- and 11th-grade levels to measure how well students are doing.
The current academic year is the deadline for school districts around the state to implement a new world language curriculum, according to Department of Education spokesman Richard Vespucci.
The decision to adopt the world language standards created a need for districts in the state to fill thousands of openings for elementary and middle schools that, previously didn’t have them.
“Everything was fine until the state came up with the new state language mandate,” Monroe Superintendent Stuart Schnur said. “There just weren’t enough people to go around.”
In the case of the Monroe School District, Dr. Schnur had to hire four new teachers for the elementary school and one new teacher for the middle school to meet stand requirements. Dr. Schnur said he found the shortage in certified world language teachers to be very evident.
Jamesburg Superintendent Richard Ballard said his school district, though smaller, has endured similar problems
“It created a whole new core of jobs,” Mr. Ballard said. “There was a need for X amount of people when there was only one-half X available.”
This year in Cranbury, the school board was unable to fill an available world language position, according to Cranbury Chief School Administrator Robert Bartoletti. Instead of bringing in a new teacher, the school asked the part-time speech and language specialist to work five days per week instead of four. The school also is relying on other language teachers to do additional work to make up for the unfilled position.
This kind of problem has caused many educators to question the state’s approach.
“The Department of Education should have done some homework; they didn’t do the ancillary work necessary,” said Karen Joseph of the New Jersey Education Association, the state teachers union. “If we’re going to put into place Core Curriculum Standards that are at a high quality level, we have to put in certified teachers and other resources to ensure its success. Otherwise, you’re just being hypocritical.”
Mr. Vespucci said school districts have had enough time to find qualified teachers because the standards were adopted three and a half years ago.
“It is the newest need for all of the elementary school to address,” Mr. Vespucci said. “School districts have known this was going to be a requirement for some time now. Many districts are excited about it.”
He also said the elementary schools are not required to have a certified teacher for the foreign language classes. Mr. Vespucci said school can legally explore that option but the vast majority are choosing not to.
“It’s our feeling they can fill the requirement without a certified language teacher,” Mr. Vespucci said. “We know, although it is not required for elementary schools, the districts want to fill the need with certified teachers.”
Ms. Joseph said exploring the noncertified teacher option would be disgraceful.
“The NJEA is, has always been and will always be, adamantly opposed to bringing people in who aren’t certified to teach,” Ms. Joseph said. “Doing so is a slap in the face to every teacher. It would set the profession back decades.”
At this point, districts lacking world language teachers are likely to run into problems finding qualified applicants because the already small potential hire pool has been tapped.
“The districts who started earlier had an advantage because they could draw from the entire certified pool,” said Mr. Ballard. Luckily, “our Board of Education was committed to language arts in the school for over two years.”