Utah teachers dwindle

Utah's school-age population is growing by the equivalent of the entire Provo School District each year, but the state's universities are producing licensed teachers at some of the lowest rates in years.

That disparity doesn't bode well for the future of public education, whose leaders are now looking to higher education to beef up the supply of qualified teachers.

"On the supply side, the total number of teachers graduating from our colleges of education has been flat and trending slightly downward. This, remarkably, has happened when four new colleges of education have come online in the state and the state has approved an alternative route to licensure," David Sperry told members of the State Board of Regents Friday.

Sperry, who recently moved from dean of education at the University of Utah to help with teacher recruitment in the Utah System of Higher Education, pointed out gaps in the state's supply and demand for teachers.

Between 2003 and 2006, the number of state education graduates obtaining a teaching license in Utah fell from more than 3,000 to less than 2,500. That's just slightly above the number of graduates who obtained licenses in 2000.

That picture isn't expected to get any better in the next 10 years, Sperry noted, with predictions of flat enrollment growth in Utah's universities. During that same period, Sperry estimates about 50 percent of new teachers in Utah will leave their posts within five years.

In the 2005-06 school year, Utah's school districts experienced an 11.4 percent turnover rate, with the majority of those teachers leaving after only one year of teaching.

An expected exodus of retiring teachers only worsens the scenario, Sperry noted, with about 45 percent of teachers who left last year citing retirement as the reason.

To address the problem, Sperry is heading a group of public and higher education leaders who are looking at how to increase the number of teachers. At the same time, Sperry said, the group is also hoping to look at creative ways to better use and retain the teachers it already has.

Carol Strong, a task force member and dean of education at Utah State University, said that while USU hasn't been training any fewer educators, the school just can't keep up with demand. To compete, Strong said USU is focusing its attention on its regional campuses in hopes of training and retaining teachers in the areas where they already live.

"They're staying in the state to work. They're getting teaching jobs right here," Strong said.