Illinois' teacher shortage crisis is dire, but we are not without solutions

Back in 2019, I traveled throughout Illinois to speak with superintendents about the growing teacher shortage in the state and how it was affecting students in their district. Nearly every superintendent I spoke to pointed to an immediate need for more educators joining the profession. As vacancies grew year-over-year, the pool of qualified and enthusiastic applicants was shrinking.

The 2021 Illinois Educator Shortage Survey recently released by Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools (IARSS) confirms that this trend has not only continued, but worsened.

In counties across the state, the numbers point to a dire teacher shortage crisis. Of the responding districts, 88% report that they are currently experiencing a teacher shortage problem and a whopping 96% report experiencing a shortage of certified substitute teachers. This shortage had drastic consequences for students in the last year, with 385 classes moving to online instruction because of a lack of supervision and 412 canceled altogether.

Here in the suburbs of Chicago, the numbers reveal a similarly disturbing trend. In Suburban Cook County, 87% of districts reported a teacher shortage problem, a sharp increase from 67% in the 2020 report. Each day that Illinois students go without a qualified teacher in their classroom, virtual or in-person, is a missed opportunity for them to learn, grow and experience the lifelong impact of an educator who is truly invested in them and their success. Our schools need candidates and they need them now.

With over 2,000 teaching positions currently vacant in Illinois, the question remains: How do we fill these positions with prepared, certified teaching professionals who can meet the needs of our districts and, most importantly, our students?

Before we can answer that question, we have to consider how we got to where we are. As a former principal with over 20 years of experience working with school staff of all levels and backgrounds, I know that the answer is, unfortunately, not so simple. Between a general decline in the number of students in our colleges of education, licensure concerns and the host of additional stressors brought on by COVID-19, there are multiple forces working against our ability to develop a consistent pipeline of qualified educators into our schools.

If we want to reverse this trend and begin repopulating our once ample pool of qualified applicants, we need to recommit ourselves to removing barriers that are currently keeping potential candidates from becoming teachers and, after that, staying teachers.

Golden Apple has been exploring retention strategies for decades through our teacher preparation programs that are designed to meet this crisis head-on. Through our Scholars program, which is geared toward high school seniors and first and second year college students, we've seen that providing financial assistance, ample classroom teaching experience, job placement support and mentoring are key in getting young people excited about the profession and preparing them to succeed beyond those first crucial years.

Those who find education as a true passion later in life can also become incredible teachers, but we know that it's not easy to leave a job, go back to school and change career paths. To address these barriers, we launched the Accelerators program, an expedited teacher licensure program, in 2019 as a means to tap into this invaluable pool of potential educators. Our inaugural cohort is now in the classroom full time, becoming pillars in their classrooms and their communities.

The IARSS report paints a grim picture of the state of the teacher shortage in Illinois, but we are not without solutions or hope. If we continue to tailor our response strategies to address the specific needs of potential candidates and expand the pool of who can become a teacher, we will grow the number of passionate educators one by one.

• Alan Mather, of Chicago, is president of the Golden Apple Foundation.