Hollister
– As millions of baby boomers age, local schools are preparing
to face a shrinking teaching force as more and more veteran
educators take retirements.
Hollister – As millions of baby boomers age, local schools are preparing to face a shrinking teaching force as more and more veteran educators take retirements.
“It’s certainly something we’re all discussing right now. It’s a big concern,” San Benito High School Superintendent Stan Rose said.
Superintendent Ron Crates of the Hollister School District, the largest public school district in the county, reported that 119 out of 332 teachers will be eligible to retire in the next seven years. Rose didn’t have the numbers handy, but said he was sure that roughly one-third of SBHS’ teaching staff will be nearing retirement as well.
“We need to start bringing new teachers into the profession very soon,” Crates said.
A teaching shortage would be bad for both students and teachers, educators say. Teachers might have to teach more or larger classes, or they might have to cancel teaching a specialized elective class in order to serve more students. Students in turn could have difficulty getting the one-on-one attention in class that many teachers already struggle to provide.
“Once the (sewer) moratorium is lifted, this community could start growing again, and we could have more (student) enrollment,” Rose said. “We need to have enough teachers to meet that need.”
The impending teacher shortage is by no means limited to San Benito County. According to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing’s most recent report to the legislature, the number of newly credentialed teachers dropped by more than 10 percent during the 2004-2005 school year, and the number of emergency credentials issued to teachers dropped by more than 24 percent.
“Statewide we’re looking at being 110,000 teachers short for open positions for the next decade,” Rose said.
HSD is already formulating a plan to cultivate more teachers from within its own ranks. Last night Crates presented the Board of Trustees with a plan to partner with Gavilan College and Indiana University to encourage instructional aides and other classified employees currently working for the district to become credentialed. A classified employee is someone who works for the district but does not have the proper credentials to teach a class. A group of 12 or 20 employees would take 90 units from Gavilan and 30 from Indiana University online courses, at the in-state tuition rate, to receive a bachelor’s degree. In return, the district will look into financial assistance to help employees pay for the cost of the program.
“What we really need are employees who are committed to the program,” Crates said. “Going back to school is tough. There are child-care issues that need to be arranged and the time and cost is considerable … but I believe people who are from here and work here will make the best new teachers.”
Rose said SBHS was formulating a plan to begin “aggressively” recruiting new teachers. Though he said educators are still working to determine exactly how many new teachers the high school can or should hire, he does know that the district will focus on recruiting math and special education teachers, of which he said there is a “critical shortage.” The district also is looking for bilingual teachers and possibly language arts teachers.
Part of the problem can be getting new teachers to even consider Hollister, Crates said. As a small rural town, it can be difficult for districts to entice teachers to a community they may never have heard of. But educators are confident that many teachers will find Hollister a good place to start a career.
“This has the potential to be an attractive community; the weather is great and it’s close to metropolitan areas. You have the best of both worlds,” Rose said. “And if you’re looking at housing, it’s still more affordable here than even in Morgan Hill.”
County Superintendent of Education Tim Foley said that though the community should be concerned about the impending teacher shortage, he was confident local school districts would be able to bring in enough new blood to keep schools operating normally.
“The schools aren’t going to close and there shouldn’t be mass hysteria,” he said. “This is just the process of the old guard handing the baton to the new.”
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or ds****@fr***********.com.
