The Kansas teacher shortage reflects a national trend. When classes started this fall, Kansas was 612 teachers short, up 19 percent from last year. Some positions still remain open.
Furthermore, the cost of recruiting high-quality teachers has risen and become controversial.
A recent furor involves the cost and effectiveness of a Kansas contract with the not-for-profit teacher recruiting and training organization, Teach for America.
The heart of the debate is not the final 2018 payment to TFA which, as of this writing, is unannounced or the efficiency of last years TFA recruiters, who after agreeing to 12, placed only three teachers in Kansas.
The underlying dispute is about the merits of TFA. Its an organization not well known among Kansans but often criticized by some Kansas educators.
TFA was born as a 1989 undergraduate thesis written by Princeton student, Wendy Kopp. Her idea led to creation of a homeland Peace Corps where recent graduates, regardless of college major, would commit to teaching for two years in inner-city and rural schools throughout the United States.
Today TFA has taught more than 50 million students. This year in the Kansas City area there are 120 TFA teachers with 13 of those in Kansas City, Kan., but none elsewhere in Kansas.
The teachers receive the going rate for new teachers by the school district where they are hired.
TFA members undergo five weeks of pre-teaching training and participate in mentoring and professional development after that. In Kansas, TFA teachers must meet a state requirement of being enrolled in a masters degree program.
With goals of promoting equity, offering students effective instruction and mobilizing young teachers to become future leaders, whats not to like? Critics voice two major complaints:
TFA teachers are inexperienced and most are not prepared by colleges of education.
The two-year teaching model, rather than transforming students learning is a résumé-boosting experience that results in disruptive teacher turnover.
In recent years, TFA has worked hard to address those issues. Moreover, teacher shortages and dramatic increases in high-need student populations have altered perceptions about what is adequate teacher preparation.
Consequently state requirements for teacher preparation and university teacher education curricula have become similar to or are fewer than TFA requirements.
Individuals with bachelors degrees may become Kansas classroom teachers with a summer preparatory course; then they complete licensure coursework or a masters degree through online and campus options.
