State school chiefs are working to stave off a projected 1,200-teacher-a-year shortage, but they want more money to bring good people into the classroom — and keep them there.

"We have not seen the huge crisis yet," state associate superintendent Ray Timothy told the legislative Education Interim Committee on Wednesday. "We just want to make sure we don't face the same issue we've seen in Utah with the nursing shortage."

But it's uncertain how lawmakers might react to the plea. Last year, they let die two bills that would have helped address the issue.

A teacher shortage has been forecast for years. A couple of years ago, some districts started school with substitutes and a few unmanned classes. And right now, there aren't enough math, science, special education and English-as-a-second-language teachers to go around, state reports show.

But a more far-reaching statewide teacher shortage could hit any time, with more than 8,000 Utah teachers at retirement age, Timothy said.

Granted, the state is getting some help from programs and the economic downturn, which brought former teachers back to the classroom. But there still aren't enough teachers coming out of college to replace potential retirees, let alone keep up with growing student enrollments, Timothy said. Worse, one-third of teachers quit within their first three years on the job, and 50 percent leave within the first five years.

Utah's issue is not supply, but retention, Timothy said.