Where are the teachers? In Minnesota's recent report, "Growing Gap: Minnesota's Teacher Recruitment and Retention Crises," we discovered that more than half of Minnesota's superintendents are reporting an extreme shortage of science and math teachers.
Rural school districts, already strapped with shrinking budgets and limited resources, are being hit hardest.
Meanwhile, more than half of all Minnesota teachers change schools in their first five years. More than 15 percent leave the profession altogether after their first year. This revolving door lowers the opportunity for the quality education Minnesota students deserve while putting districts in permanent hiring mode.
It's clear that the state's approach to recruiting and retaining new teachers isn't working. In our research we discovered a solution, and it comes from Greater Minnesota.
Most research suggests that long-term, well-funded teacher mentoring and induction strategies produce more productive and satisfied teachers who are likely to stay in the classroom.
Mankato Area Public Schools has a mentoring program with Minnesota State University, Mankato that each year, takes five teachers -- two elementary, two secondary and one special education -- and removes them from the classroom for three years. During that time, their classes will be staffed by first-year teachers who are Minnesota State University, Mankato Fellows.
During the three years, the mentors work with teachers and with undergraduates at Minnesota State University-Mankato, Bethany Lutheran College and Gustavus Adolphus College.
Our state should be committed to keeping quality teachers in the classroom.
We need to create an effective teacher mentoring network, modeled on Mankato's program, in all school districts -- big and small, rural and urban.
Such a program benefits taxpayers, students, administrators and the community as a whole.
Teacher salaries should also reflect both the market and the state's regard for quality education.
We should also be looking at recruiting more teachers from other professions by using paraprofessionals and alternative licensure. However, inadequately trained teachers should never be placed in the classroom.
On Aug. 1, the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge in Minneapolis collapsed.
Subsequent investigation has exposed a severely stressed state bridge system born of long-term underinvestment in Minnesota's transportation infrastructure.
Minnesota's schools are facing a similar challenge. Underinvestment in the face of clear future need is placing extraordinary stress on every element of Minnesota's schools. Will policy change come only after catastrophic crises, or will Minnesota act on its values, affirming its strong educational traditions?
A quality mentoring and induction program is key to keeping teachers in the classroom and increasing their skills. This is an important building block to an exceptional education system.
The choice is simple: Minnesota can invest in education and create a generation of adults able to compete worldwide, or it can choose the mediocre path that is particularly handicapping our rural schools.
Matt Entenza, a former Minnesota legislator, is board chairman of Minnesota 2020, a non-partisan progressive think tank (www.mn2020.org). John Fitzgerald is a Minnesota 2020 fellow.
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