Regional superintendents look to address Illinois teacher shortage
By RAYMON TRONCOSO
Capitol News Illinois
rtroncoso@capitolnewsillinois.com
SPRINGFIELD – Following a February survey of school districts that illustrated a persistent teacher shortage in the state, the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools has released policy recommendations calling for better benefits and more lenient certification in an effort to reverse the trend.
The IARSS, which serves as an intermediary between local school districts and the Illinois State Board of Education, had the survey conducted between September and October to see how school districts were faring with the supply of professional and substitute teachers during the 2020-2021 school year amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Illinois was split into seven regions for the purpose of the survey, and school districts reported the shortage was worst in west central and southeastern Illinois.
White papers developed in response to the survey give seven policy recommendations as ways to combat it from the local to statewide level. The two primary methods discussed in the white paper are improving teacher pay and lessening the restrictions on certifications teachers need in order to get hired.
Compensation
When it comes to compensation, it’s not as simple as just increasing teachers’ salaries, according to IARSS President Mark Klaisner.
“One of the misnomers has been that you can just throw money at salary,” Klaisner said in an interview with Capitol News Illinois.
It was just two years ago that Illinois passed a law raising teacher pay, with a mandated minimum of $40,000 by the 2023 school year. Representatives of the IARSS filed witness slips in opposition to the minimum wage increase during committee hearings on the matter in 2019.
While Klaisner said that action was taken in an effort to address the teacher shortage, he believes it actually had the opposite effect in many places, particularly in the rural, less affluent regions of the state.
“Unfortunately, small school districts were reporting to me, that didn’t solve a problem it caused a problem, because if I have to pay a minimum of ($40,000), I’m going to let a couple teachers go so I have money to meet the 40 threshold,” Klaisner said. “Now my class sizes go up, so education’s not better. All I’ve done is I’ve moved a problem from one column to the other column.”
According to Klaisner, without additional funding, schools in rural areas have to make the difficult choice between offering a lower relative salary – which makes them less competitive than their metro counterparts – and cutting some positions to add the difference to core positions to attract applicants.
The National Education Association lists the state’s average teacher salary at $68,000, and the average starting salary at $40,484. But in the most rural and underserved areas of the state, particularly in the west central and southeastern regions, open positions offer the state’s bare minimum, which is increasing from $32,000 in the current school year to just under $35,000 for the 2021-2022 school year starting in August.
“We know there’s certain sectors of the state that’s suffering more than others,” John Meixner, a regional superintendent who oversees Fulton, Hancock, McDonough and Schuyler counties said in a podcast on education.
“A normal teaching position opens up and an applicant pool up in (Cook County) may have, instead of 150 applicants you might only have 20, whereas instead of having 10 we have zero,” he added. “I mean literally we’ve had positions, dozens of positions where zero applicants apply.”
Longstanding problems with the Teachers Retirement System – the pension plan for all Illinois public school teachers outside of the Chicago Public Schools district – have also served as a barrier to attracting applicants to the profession.
The Tier II retirement system available to those hired after 2010 requires teachers work until they are 67 years old to receive full benefits. It also provides less compensation in retirement as their contribution to the plan also works to pay down the unfunded liability of teachers enrolled in the previous pension plan.
On the salary front, IARSS is recommending school districts lobby the state to approve state-funded loan forgiveness programs for teachers who take jobs in underserved areas, as well as experiment with signing bonuses to attract new applicants.
The IARSS also recommends amending the pension plan to allow teachers to retire at 55 years of age for reduced rates.
Certification
Currently, becoming a teacher in Illinois requires a Professional Educator License. To receive one, a prospective teacher requires at least a bachelor’s degree, student teaching experience, the completion of a state-approved teaching program and a licensing test.
Licensing tests are split into several grade levels, and teachers certified in one grade level are not considered suitable for hire under a different grade level unless they successfully pass a license exam for that as well.
An educator certified for early childhood can hold a position teaching from birth to grade 2, while an elementary certified educator can teach from grade 1 to 6, and a middle grades educator from grades 5 to 8.
During the pandemic, ISBE, in conjunction with the Illinois Community College Board and Illinois Board of Higher Education, granted endorsement waivers as part of Gov. JB Pritzker’s emergency order to allow schools to fill positions with teachers certified for grade levels or subjects other than the ones they were hired to teach.
IARSS recommends continuing this practice as a temporary measure as well as auditing whether current licensing restrictions are unnecessary or have exacerbated shortages.
For endorsement areas with a high rate of unfilled positions, such as special education, mathematics and school psychologists, IARSS has recommended ISBE look at increasing funding for higher education programs offering certificates in those fields, as well as creating pipelines to transition students from rural school districts to nearby colleges to become teachers in short-staffed positions.
Education budget
After initially keeping funding for K-12 education flat at about $8.8 billion for the fiscal year in his initial February budget proposal for the 2022 fiscal year, Pritzker reversed course earlier this month and announced he was calling for $350 million to be added to the budget for education.
That’s in line with the evidence-based school funding model of 2017, which calls for that amount of money to be added to the formula each year.
Education advocates, including bipartisan members of the General Assembly, have strongly praised the evidence-based funding model, which allocates state dollars to districts according to the gap between them and what the state considers to be a required level of adequacy. Each district’s adequacy target is determined by a school district’s ability to fund proper staffing, student resources and moderate class sizes, among other factors.
Klaisner suggested the state should use that evidence-based formula to distribute federal COVID-19 stimulus dollars, including around $5 billion for education received as part of the American Rescue Plan signed by President Joe Biden. Pritzker, as well as the U.S. Department of Education, has placed parameters on how funding should be spent, and both have strongly discouraged using the stimulus money to pay salaries.
So far, school districts have used the stimulus money they have received in ways as varied as the school districts themselves. According to Klaisner, one school district used what he called “flash in the pan money” – one time funds that should be used for one-time expenditures and not long-term costs like teacher salary – to replace its decade-old fleet of buses.
In Collinsville, a city of under 30,000 located in the Metro East region near St. Louis, the school district used $300,000 in stimulus funds to construct a broadband tower, creating a private network to provide high-speed internet access to underserved students and their families throughout the school district.
Ongoing inequities
While an analysis shows the teacher shortage has actually improved over the last four years, particularly in suburban and urban parts of the state, there continues to be a great disparity in the availability of teachers between rural and metropolitan regions.
A post-survey analysis by the IARSS shows geographic location was the number one factor negatively impacting recruitment, ahead of salary and pension. Over 50 percent of school districts said their geographic location had a negative impact.
In 2019, Cook County and surrounding collar counties had 240 unfilled or underfilled positions, while that number was 228 for the west central region. By 2020, Cook County had reduced that figure to just 91, while the west central region had 257 unfilled positions.
The disparities also exist along racial lines. When controlling for the size of the district, the IARSS analysis found that the racial makeup of the student body – even more than location – was the number one predictor of whether positions in that district would be underfilled or have below-average retention rates for staff.
The higher the proportion of white students a school district had, the fewer underfilled positions.
The analysis also concluded that there was no association between vacancies and the proportion of low-income students, and that racial demographics were also a greater factor than the proportion of English-learning or English-as-a-second-language students.
Klaisner noted that research shows students who belong to an ethnic or racial minority benefit when at least one of their instructors belong to the same racial or ethnic group as them.
“We see all over the state, the demographics are very clear that oftentimes our staffs don’t represent the students that they serve, and we feel like that would be a value add, if not essential,” he said, pointing to policies like minority teacher grants and ISBE initiatives to recruit teachers of color.
Despite this, the IARSS white paper concluded the most important predictors of success when it came to hiring and retaining staff was educator pay and how close the school district was to a teacher preparation program. Stakeholders should focus on addressing these factors, according to the analysis.
“While districts may not be able to change their geography or student demographics, they do have some control over teacher salaries, and institutions of higher education have some role to play in working to serve the state’s ‘higher education deserts,’” the IARSS said in their report.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering state government and distributed to more than 400 newspapers statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
Local News
Riot Fest abandons Chicago park for SeatGeek Stadium
Spread the loveBy Bob Bong Last year, Lyrical Lemonade moved its Summer Smash hip-hop music festival from Chicago’s Douglass Park to Bridgeview’s SeatGeek Stadium. Thousands of fans poured into the stadium at 7100 S. Harlem Ave. over the course of three days and, by most accounts, enjoyed the experience. Summer Smash returned to SeatGeek this…
Comings & Goings: Orland Park Summerfest returns this weekend
Spread the loveBy Bob Bong Back for a second go round this weekend is the Orland Park Area Chamber of Commerce’s Summerfest. The event combines a carnival, live music, an array of dining options and a car show, at the 153rd Street Metra Station location in Orland Park and will run from Friday, June 14,…
Repair Cafe this Saturday at Township of Lyons HQ
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch Repair cafes have become quite the thing for the Township of Lyons. So much so that another repair cafe will be offered from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. this Saturday, June 15, at the township office, 6404 Joliet Road in Countryside. A repair café held in May was a smashing…
‘They didn’t have to kill my brother’ – sister of slain Bridgeview man
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch Arturo Cantu should be celebrating two big events this weekend. He would have celebrated his 40th birthday on June 14. And, a sister said, he would have enjoyed Father’s Day on Sunday, spending time with family and his two young children. Instead, 10 family members and friends gathered in a…
‘You just learn to live with the pain’
Spread the loveStatus hearing in July for McCook murder By Steve Metsch The attorney representing a Chicago man charged with murdering a Blue Island man in McCook in February told a judge Wednesday there’s been “a significant and outstanding discovery in this matter.” Attorney Damon Cheronis made his comment before Cook County Circuit Court Judge…
Man shot in La Grange; suspect arrested in Stickney
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch A man was shot Tuesday afternoon in La Grange, according to a news release received Wednesday from the police department. A suspect has been apprehended, the release said. The shooting victim remains in stable condition at a local hospital, the release said. La Grange Police, working with the Major Case…
Softball | Marist will play for state title for fourth straight season
Spread the loveBy Randy Whalen Correspondent Marist returned to the state title game for the fourth straight season with a 7-1 victory over Mundelein in the semifinals, held June 7 at Louisville Slugger Sports Complex in Peoria. The Mustangs (36-2) were making their first appearance at state since 1996. “We have a core group of returners,”…
McCook building inspector retires after 18 years
Spread the loveBy Steve Metsch After 18 years of inspecting buildings, be it a modest bi-level house or a sprawling multi-million-dollar warehouse, Terrence Hickey is retiring from the village of McCook. His retirement takes effect June 28, Mayor Terrance Carr said during the June 3 meeting of the village board. “I’m jealous,” Carr said. “(He’s…
New Summit Girl Scout troop off and running
Spread the loveBy Carol McGowan There’s a new Girl Scout Troop in Summit, and they have been busy. Troop 56615 is made up of girls from Summit School District 104 from first-grade to third-grade, and between 7-9 years old, making them Brownies in the scouting world. They have 10 girls so far, and Troop Leader…
Neighbors
Archer Avenue may go green
Spread the loveSt. Patrick’s Day parade planned By Tim Hadac Organizers of Garfield Ridge’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade are hoping the Lightfoot Administration will give a green thumbs-up to the small but festive celebration of all things Irish. For each of the last two years, City Hall withdrew its support and denied permits based…
No injuries in basement fire in Orland Park apartment
Spread the loveFrom staff reports A basement fire damaged a four-unit apartment building early Sunday morning in Orland Park. The fire was extinguished quickly and damage was kept to a small area of the basement, although smoke filled the building. Officials of the Orland Fire Protection District said there were no injuries and the cause…
Worth hires new management for Water’s Edge Golf Course
Spread the loveBy Joe Boyle Even an impending snowstorm could not damper the mood of Worth Trustee Laura Packwood regarding plans for the village’s Water’s Edge Golf Course. Packwood, who is the head of the golf committee, said that Orion, a company based out of Kansas City, Mo., became the official managers of Water’s Edge…
Cook County residents eligible for spay/neuter discounts in February
Spread the lovePet owners can bring their dogs and cats to participating veterinarians throughout Cook County to receive a $40 discount on spay or neuter services in February. The Cook County Department of Animal and Rabies Control are offering the spay and neuter program during February – Spay and Neuter Awareness Month. More than 200…
Teen driver charged in crash that killed Alsip girl
Spread the loveBy Bob Bong A juvenile was charged by Palos Heights police Monday with reckless homicide and reckless driving in the December 27 crash that killed a 14-year-old girl from Alsip and injured six other people. Palos Heights police did not identify the juvenile because of the driver’s age. The driver was charged with…
Let us grow, let us grow, let us grow
Spread the love The weather outside may be frightful, but the learning at St. Sym’s is delightful, is the message implied in a bulletin board designed by third grader Olivia Hernandez. School officials said Olivia was given the opportunity to design the bulletin board as a reward for the kindness she shows at school. Catholic…
Cold weather, warm hearts
Spread the loveBy Joan Hadac Your correspondent in Clearing and Garfield Ridge (708) 496-0265 • joan.hadac@gmail.com Hi everyone. Welcome to February, the shortest month of the year, jam-packed with holidays like Lincoln’s Birthday, Washington’s Birthday–which are usually bundled together into Presidents Day–Groundhog Day, Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday and Super Bowl Sunday. (Some of us just check…
‘Once in a lifetime’ funding coming
Spread the loveGov’t. invites biz owners, non-profits to apply From staff reports Local business owners and community-based non-profit leaders are invited to attend an online meeting designed to raise awareness of the American Rescue Plan Act and other economic recovery funding opportunities, and better understand what they need to do to be eligible for these opportunities. Dubbed…
Crime fighters will meet
Spread the loveBy Tim Hadac Residents of Police Beat 812 (Clearing, west of Central Avenue) are invited to attend their next CAPS meeting, set for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 9. The meeting will be held via Zoom in a webinar format. To obtain instructions and passcodes, call the Chicago Lawn (8th) District CAPS Office at…