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America's Growing Teacher Shortage

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FILE - In this March 10, 2015, file photo, teacher Allison Williams, upper right, works with her kindergarten students at Des Moines Elementary School in Des Moines, Wash. The 2018 legislative session begins on Monday, Jan. 8, 2018, and lawmakers are hoping they'll finish their work including finalizing the last piece of a court mandate on education funding without having to go into overtime. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, file)
FILE - In this March 10, 2015, file photo, teacher Allison Williams, upper right, works with her kindergarten students at Des Moines Elementary School in Des Moines, Wash. The 2018 legislative session begins on Monday, Jan. 8, 2018, and lawmakers are hoping they'll finish their work including finalizing the last piece of a court mandate on education funding without having to go into overtime. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, file)

With guest host Ray Suarez. 

America has a teacher shortage that’s expected to keep growing. Do the solutions short-change American students?

Guests:

Matt Barnum, national reporter for Chalkbeat. (@matt_barnum)

Jason Hammond Garcia, past president of the Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association.

Linda Darling-Hammond, president and CEO of the Learning Policy Institute. (@LDH_ed)

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers. (@rweingarten)

Highlights From This Show:

From The Reading List:

Chalkbeat: In Many Large School Districts, Hundreds Of Teaching Positions Were Unfilled As School Year Began — "Districts used their own definitions for a 'vacant' position, meaning the numbers may not be directly comparable. Still, they highlight how several big districts, by their own admission, are not able to fill teaching jobs by the time school starts. Research and experience suggests that students stand to suffer, particularly those in already struggling schools."

Washington Post: Where Have All The Teachers Gone? — "Across the country, districts and schools continue to struggle to meet the growing demand for qualified teachers. Since 2012, when Recession-era layoffs ended, the teacher workforce has grown by about 400,000, as districts have sought to reclaim the positions they had previously cut and replace teachers who have left."

This morning millions of American students trooped into public schools from coast to coast to be taught by…not enough teachers. In districts across the country thousands of jobs are going unfilled. And in too many cases, teachers hired leave after just a few years. What drives the shortage? And what will it take to get more people to choose a career in education? And stay? This hour, On Point: What it takes to get an “A” in recruitment. --Ray Suarez

This program aired on January 10, 2018.

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