A teacher shortage continues to plague Minnesota as the 2024 school year begins.
According to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Minnesota is estimated to have 18,000 job openings for elementary school teachers and 14,000 for high school teachers over the next decade.
Keith Hovis with the Minnesota Office of Higher Education says right now the department is offering grants and programs to future teachers but there is still more to do.
"There's more that we need to do not in terms of investing in our teachers, but also in ensuring that we help people consider the teaching profession as highly valued and critical career, which it is," Hovis explained. "So I do think these programs are having an impact but we also see that there's more that we need to be doing."
Amid the shortage, some Minnesota schools are turning to international recruiting. For example, Fridley Public Schools has hired about 20 educators from the Philippines to help fill the need.
Still, statistics for the 2023-24 school year show a whopping 86% of K-12 public schools in the country documented challenges in hiring teachers.
Hovis believes this is a priority for state leaders and that he's hopeful new resources and strategies to combat the issue are just around the corner.
"The Walz-Flanagan Administration placed a huge importance and focus on families," says Hovis. "Teachers are a critical part of supporting families. We know that we want to continue investing in teachers."
The Minnesota Teacher Shortage Student Loan Repayment Program was established to provide student loan repayment assistance to teachers providing classroom instruction in Minnesota. The purpose of the program is to encourage teachers, particularly those who belong to a race or ethnicity underrepresented in the state's teacher workforce, to teach in Minnesota, to teach in license shortage areas, or to teach in rural school districts. Find more information here.