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HANCOCK -- An ongoing debate within the state of Michigan continues on whether there is a teacher shortage in Michigan. A July 24 article in the Capitol Confidential's Education News entitled "Despite Claims, There Is No Teacher Shortage in Michigan" by Tom Gantert, Gantert quoted Ben DeGrow, director of education policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
"There is no definitive evidence of a general teacher shortage in Michigan," DeGrow is quoted as saying. "In fact, the number of applicants for positions in many districts suggests the opposite."
At a recent downstate superintendents' meeting, however, Copper Country Intermediate School District Superintendent George Stockero learned that while there may not be a shortage of certified teachers in Michigan, there is a shortage of certified teachers in the classroom.
"To me, the most telling thing was," Stockero said, "you had probably 300 superintendents in one big building, and the state superintendent was there, and they got up and said, 'Alright, those who don't have enough teachers right now, please raise your hand.' At least half the room raise their hand."
Some superintendents reported classrooms staffed by substitutes because they can't find enough teachers.
"There's been a lot of debate on this," Stockero said. "Some people in the state say there are plenty of teachers and there are roughly 99,000 teaching jobs in the state of Michigan, and we know that there are 105,000 people who have certifications to teach. There shouldn't be a shortage."
Stockero said what is being learned is even with a teaching certificate, many have chosen not to teach, instead going into other industries, because the pay and benefits are better.
One reason for the shortage of teachers is a steady decline in the number of certificates awarded to Michigan applicants, according to Gantert. There were 9,665 teaching certificates awarded to Michigan applicants in 2004. That number dropped to 3,696 in 2016, according to the Michigan Department of Education, Ganter stated in his article.
Stockero said the most critical areas faced with shortages, in order, are special education, math and science, and career and technical education.
"There just isn't enough of those teachers," he said. "So, we as a group, have to start thinking about how we can attract more people to going into teaching."