Teacher Shortage

It is a loaded inquiry to begin asking why there is a shortage of teachers in the United States today. While it is feasible that some educators claim the shortage exists in areas of Special Education, Mathematics, or the Sciences others refute the shortage at all. A decade ago researchers McLeskey, Tyler, and Flippin (2004) used federal data from the Department of Education to cite dwindling inventory of Special Education teachers (p. 5). Each year federal data sheds light on demand trends, but perhaps Dr. Peter Swanson put it best in describing the reasons why a teacher shortage exists in America.

Swanson informs that there are various reasons and factors for the shortage. According to Swanson in peer-reviewed 'High School Journal' "increased enrollments and teacher attrition," certified teachers leaving the profession, combine to mitigate the problem. Also, he insists that an 'uneven distribution' of educators compounds the shortage problem in terms of certain geographical areas being more or less desirable. Think of it this way. Certain urban settings or out-in-the-bush rural places could suffer disproportionately, and even explain a high turnover in various regions states Swanson in quoting researchers Darling-Hammond and Ingersoll. To add to the mix of probable facts and opinions, one expert claims there is no teacher shortage at all.

Oddly enough, this campaign of belief stems from putting blame on importing teachers. Books and de Villiers make such assessment, citing teacher shortage as an excuse to pay teachers less while recruiting teachers from under-developing countries "to work in U.S. classrooms," which is a "politically charged discourse" indeed. While claims must be documented, the debate shall linger on.