A statewide shortage of math and science teachers is hitting close to Hillsborough and Manville, with both school districts finding teachers in short supply.
By:Alec Moore and Laura Pelner
And with a little more than a month before schools open, administrators are having to scramble to have teachers in place when the students arrive. In Hillsborough, the district must now gear up for a summer hiring crunch to fill approximately 20 teaching vacancies, primarily at the middle school and high school levels.
"We are almost in a crisis situation," said Hillsborough Superintendent Robert Gulick at Monday’s Hillsborough Board of Education meeting. "We have more vacancies today than we have ever had at this point in the year." He said the district is normally fully staffed for the coming school year well before the end of June.
"We’ll do our best to fill all the positions as best we can," said Francis X. Heelan, superintendent of Manville public schools. "…It’s horrifying to think the school year is beginning without having these people on board to teach."
to filling vacancies
The districts are taking different tacks to fill their teaching positions. Dr. Gulick stressed that the district is working overtime to hire new teachers and anticipated that all vacancies will be filled before the start of the school year without lowering the district’s qualifications standards,.
"We will absolutely have these vacancies filled by Sept. 1," Dr. Gulick said Wednesday, declining to comment on what action the district would take in the event the vacancies were not filled by September. He emphasized the district has applicants and all vacancies would in fact be filled by the start of the school year, thus rendering the question of what may happen if the vacancies are not filled as "moot," he said.
Manville is pursuing possible "alternate route" teachers, or those who don’t have a teaching certificate but are highly knowledgeable in one area. Dr. Heelan said the schools would have to consider hiring these people, especially in the high-need disciplines, and he said Manville might have an advantage because other districts don’t often consider noncertificated employees.
Members of the borough’s Board of Education seem to disagree though, because at their June 27 meeting the board denied hiring an applicant for a math teacher’s position because he was not certified and had little classroom teaching experience.
Many members of the board said they would rather wait and see what other applications they receive, especially from new college graduates with education degrees, before they commit to a noncertified person.
local classrooms
But hoping to fill the positions may be difficult because of several trends in education. According to Mike Yaple, a spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association in Trenton, the area’s staff shortage is not uncommon. He pointed out that math, science, technology and world language teachers are in great demand throughout the state.
Mr. Yaple said the state’s teacher shortage stems from growing enrollment the state has roughly 200,000 more pupils this year than a decade ago combined with an aging teacher corps.
"Not only do you have to hire more teachers to teach more kids, but you also have to replace the teachers who are retiring," he said.
The state has had particular trouble recruiting teachers in specialty areas such as science, math, technology, and world language.
"These jobs are highly sought after in the private sector," Mr. Yaple said. "The economy plays a big factor. When it’s hot, people can move from job to job very easily."
Mr. Yaple added that, in years past, teachers traditionally remained in one school district after they received tenure. Based on what the state board has seen, however, it seems that teachers today are much more likely to switch districts in search of higher pay, greater benefits and superior working environments, something echoed by both superintendents.
Hillsborough’s critical staffing problems arose last month after three senior level teachers decided to leave the district for higher paying administrative positions with other school districts.
Dr. Gulick referred to the departure of the three tenured teachers as a "back-handed compliment" to the Hillsborough district’s high standards of teaching and administrative work. By that, Dr. Gulick expressed that the Hillsborough district had administrative openings available so the three senior teachers would not have had to leave the nest for career advancement.
The shortage has been building over the summer in Manville, where nine teachers resigned from the school district and Dr. Heelan said he’s received more letters of resignation since the Board of Education’s meeting two weeks ago.
Dr. Heelan said there’s been "quite a number" of resignations this year and many more than in other years. He said the resignations are coming from a variety of teachers, new and old. "Even some seasoned teachers that we would hope would not resign have," he said.
Stephen Wollmer, the associate director for public relations for the New Jersey Education Association, said there is a national teacher shortage and every state is encountering problems. "It’s predicted that over 2 million teachers are going to be needed during the next seven or eight years," he said.
Mr. Wollmer estimated that figure probably represents two-thirds of the current teaching force.
from shortage
For smaller municipalities like Manville this creates a major problem because one of the driving forces behind teachers switching districts is their salary and usually Manville can’t financially compete with other districts.
"We generally don’t pay as much as other districts, so consequently we lose to other districts," said Dr. Heelan.
Mr. Wollmer reiterated this thought and said one of the biggest ways Manville could attract more teachers is to increase the pay rates. "Manville, for far too long, has been among the lowest paid in the county," said Mr. Wollmer. "It’s still very poorly paid. Manville is not a competitive situation."
He said the average starting salary for teachers in the state is $32,000 and that many of Manville’s experienced teachers make only $34,000. "If you don’t want to pay people commensurate with their talents and experience, you won’t be able to play," he said.
Dr. Gulick pointed out that, in the case of some of the departing Hillsborough teachers, a $3,000 $4,000 a year raise coupled with a shorter commute was enough incentive for them to accept employment elsewhere.
Mr. Wollmer offered a few suggestions for attracting and keeping teachers in the district.
"Districts need to focus on good compensation, good working compensation, manageable class sizes, administrative leaders and support and parental support," he said. "All of these things are factors that drag teachers out if not in place."
One possible solution in the long run are "alternate route teachers," college graduates who have never taught before but earn a teacher’s certificate. Since 1995, roughly one in four teachers has come from the alternate certification program, according to the Department of Education.
Candidates take a state certification test in the subject they have chosen to teach. If they pass, they teach for a year under the supervision of an experienced teacher, or mentor, while taking general education theory classes at night. At the end of the year, they are eligible for full certification. The traditional certification process differs only in that candidates are required to possess a degree in education, and take a certification test in general knowledge. Candidates for both programs must have a college grade point average of 2.75 or above.
"Largely through the alternate route, we’ve been able to stay ahead of the (national) curve in avoiding a crunch in hiring new teachers," Department of Education spokesman Richard Vespucci said. "But we still have to do a lot more."
Mr. Vespucci said the state expects to lose close to one-third of its teachers to retirement in the next decade, which makes the recruitment of teachers even more vital. And while the state has stepped up its recruitment program for fresh college graduates, they plan to reply more heavily on alternate route teachers.
"We’re certainly working toward that end," said Mr. Vespucci."
may help
Meanwhile, the districts will work on filling as many positions as possible. Dr. Gulick added that, while there is an ample number of general teaching applicants, the district is in dire need of math and science teachers as well as world language teachers, all of which have classes slated for September.
And in terms of guidance counselors, which the district is also in short supply of, Dr. Gulick said he is considering applying to the county superintendent of schools for an emergency waiver of a state mandate which requires that all guidance counselors have one year of teaching experience.
Although he agrees with the state mandate and believes guidance counselors should ideally have one year of teaching experience, Dr. Gulick said it is not an absolute necessity. "Normally I like to see someone with teaching experience, but our list of qualified applicants is quickly dwindling," he said.
To combat Manville’s losses, Dr. Heelan said the district will have to increase salaries, especially in certain fields. "We have to consider paying experienced teachers in math and science for their background and experience," he said. "We can’t rely on getting teachers at the entry level salary."
Mr. Wollmer added the district would need to ask itself a few questions before it can really better the situation. "Manville’s going to have to figure out how it wants to regain a competitive opportunity," he said. "…What is the long-term plan for educational quality in Manville?"
Staff Writer Steve Rauscher contributed to this story.