Change needed to increase ranks of teachers

Utah is running out of K-12 teachers. Last year, the number of teachers being produced by the state's public and private colleges was 1,400 short of the number of teachers districts needed to hire.

The K-16 Alliance's Special Task Force on Teacher Shortages issued its report last week. The recommendations, if implemented, would require action from a variety of state policymakers as well as education officials.

The first recommendation is one the task force considers to be the most significant. It has the potential for reducing or eliminating the teacher shortage, increasing the professional nature of public school teaching, providing a variety of educational scheduling choices and offering multiple employment contract choices for teachers.

It calls upon the state to maximize the use of existing K-12 teachers and capital facilities through school schedules and calendars that expand the length of the instructional day and the number of days in the year in which K-12 schools are operating.

While 260 days represent the accepted standard work year, most Utah teacher contracts are typically in the 180- to 190-day range. Many teachers, especially those who are the primary breadwinners for their families, are required to take jobs for less pay during their non-contract days. Some work two jobs during the school year.

This has roots in an 1800s agrarian era when children were required to perform farm chores before and after school and were needed full time during the summer. We no longer live in a "sugar beet" economy. Yet, the structure of our K-12 schools maintains this inefficient system.

Can Utah afford to continue with this luxury?

Under the new recommendation, teachers would select contracts that more nearly approach the standard work year. The overall compensation would allow them to compete with others in occupations requiring similar training and preparation.

The report contains several examples of possible "efficiency models." One highly innovative and appealing model is a trimester proposal, inspired and patterned somewhat after the new calendar/schedule just implemented at Brigham Young University-Idaho.

Kim Clark, president of the institution and former dean of the Harvard Business School, helped task force members understand how this model might be adapted to public educational systems. According to President Clark, capital facilities savings were substantial at BYU-Idaho.