Five things to know about the teacher shortage in Wisconsin
AnnMarie HiltonThe number of public school teachers in Wisconsin has held at about 64,000 for the past couple years, even increasing slightly, but school districts statewide say it's not enough to overcome a shortage of teachers in classrooms.
It's unclear exactly how many more teachers it would take to fill the gap, but one indication may be the number of emergency licenses being issued to help meet needs.
A January report from the state Department of Public Instruction analyzes the teacher workforce statewide, and also evaluates enrollment and completion of educator preparation programs in the state.
Numbers in the report are from 2020-21, with comparisons to the year before, and offer the most current statewide look available.
In the report, "teachers" refers to traditional classroom teachers, department heads, speech/language pathologists, librarians and library media specialists.
So if new teachers continue to graduate, and if there was even a net gain in their numbers a few years ago, why do schools struggle to have full rosters?
The report says the state will need to survey districts to learn more details and how extensive the problems are in certain types of districts. Rural and urban districts, for example, may face different problems, but those nuances are not addressed in the report.
But even without that survey, the state’s 31-page report offers some insights.
One of every three new Wisconsin teachers will leave the profession in five years
Perhaps the greatest challenge to Wisconsin’s teacher supply is retention.
There are more than enough new teachers to replenish the supply of those who retire, but they aren't sticking around for long. Only two-thirds of new teachers are still teaching in Wisconsin after their first five years.
Retention should be leveling off after the initial years as those teachers settle into their careers, but the state found that's not the case.
Enrollment in teacher prep programs has dropped, and required exams have become a barrier
Fewer people are studying to become teachers compared to 2008, and those who do are increasingly struggling with certain requirements.
One roadblock is the Foundations of Reading Test, a required exam to become licensed as an elementary teacher, special education teacher, reading teacher or reading specialist.
Since 2016, fewer people who take the test actually pass. Most recent data show only about half of those who take it pass on the first attempt, which “is undoubtedly impacting the workforce,” the report said.
Breaking it down by race shows even bleaker numbers. Only a third of Asian and Hispanic candidates and 15% of Black candidates who took the test passed on the first try.
Not everyone who gets a teaching degree gets licensed; even fewer actually teach in public schools
The state is also losing potential teachers between when they complete their education and get hired. There has been slight improvement in this area, but many people who graduate with proper training don't end up teaching at public schools.
In 2021, there were 5,400 new grads from teaching programs in Wisconsin. One in five didn’t get a teaching license, and only 3,600 went on to be employed in Wisconsin public schools.
Median teacher salary has decreased over the past decade
The report doesn’t dive deeply into what causes people not to get licensed, or the low retention rates, but it does note the median salary for teachers has steadily declined over the past decade.
Using dollar amounts adjusted to 2021, the median salary for teachers fell from more than $62,000 in 2011 to $56,000 in 2021, the report said.
Fringe benefits also fell by almost $8,500 in that same time period.
Wisconsin has issued more emergency teaching licenses than previous years, especially for subjects with the biggest shortage
Districts can use two emergency licensing options when they can’t find regularly licensed teachers: a one-year option for people still completing requirements for full licensing, and a three-year option for people with regular licenses who need to teach outside of their expertise.
In 2020-21, the state issued more than 3,600 emergency teaching licenses. The vast majority were for one-year licenses, which increased 30% from the year before.
The state issued more than 1,200 emergency licenses for special education in 2020-21, more than any other subject area. Regular education, bilingual education and elementary and middle school have also seen high numbers of emergency licenses in recent years.
Additional licensing data from 2019-20 lists art, music, reading and world languages as shortage areas, too.
Reach AnnMarie Hilton at ahilton@gannett.com or 920-370-8045. Follow her on Twitter at @hilton_annmarie.