Kids all around St. Louis are making their ways back to school this week -- but a lot of teachers aren't. The whole country has seen a dramatic teacher shortage recently, and Missouri is no exception.
Todd Fuller from the Missouri State Teachers Association told KMOX that smaller more rural districts have seen teacher shortages before, but what's happening now is different.
"What we're seeing this year is somewhat unprecedented in that you're not only seeing a shortage in those higher need areas, whether it be STEM or something else, but we're seeing a shortage across the board," Fuller said. "And not just in smaller school districts, but in all school districts in the state."
He said reversing course will involve taking a good look at what caused so many teachers to leave these past couple years.
"We've seen teachers leave the profession before, in the first one to five years before they have teacher tenure. And we of course see teachers decide to retire, but not at the level that we saw this past year," he said. "I mean, when we look at teacher retirement up more than 20% over what it was last year."
He said districts are looking to make changes, considering things like four-day weeks, better healthcare, and fair compensation. Missouri has the lowest starting salary for teachers in the country and is 47th for average teacher salary.
Fuller said while the state has tried to make some changes, not every district has been receptive.
"We look at something like what was introduced this past year, which was trying to increase the levels of starting teacher salaries for school districts, and the monies that are coming from the state to be able to do that," he said. "The challenge, though, is that is in many ways a one-time money."
He said many districts didn't take the state up on the offer because it wasn't a proper long-term solution.
Fuller also said some of the frustration teachers are dealing with may have to do with legislators dictating more and more what they can and can't teach.
"The kinds of tests that you have to give, but also focusing on the manner in the way in which a teacher teaches in the classroom, not necessarily respecting their ability to do what their passion is and what they do best," he said. "And so we're not giving them the opportunity to work with students and help students. They're spending a lot more time worrying about everything around the edges of teaching, rather than the actual act of teaching itself.
Listen to Todd Fuller's full conversation with KMOX's Debbie Monterrey:
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