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Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Modern School: Teacher Shortage or Glut?

Modern School: Teacher Shortage or Glut?:


Teacher Shortage or Glut?

It is often said that we are suffering a teacher shortage and that terrible pay and working conditions are only worsening it. However, due to several years of mass layoffs, combined with increasing class sizes, most districts have plenty of teachers to fill current needs.

The problem is no longer a shortage of teachers, but a shortage of teaching services. There are sufficient teachers to cover the desired number of classes, but there are far fewer course offerings and desired classes offered to students. They have far more classmates in the remaining classes, which results in less one on one attention from their teachers. Because of 

OPE: Office of Postsecondary Education
   Current Section
Teacher Shortage Areas

WHAT'S NEW
The annual publication of the nationwide teacher shortage area (TSA) list is available. Teacher Shortage Areas Nationwide Listing: 1990-1991 through 2012-2013, dated April 2012.
Letter to Chief State School Officers
Annual publication of the Teacher Shortage Area Nationwide Listing designated by the Department of Education as required under the following program regulations:
  • 34 CFR 682.210(q) enables a borrower who had no outstanding Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loan on July 1, 1987 but who had an outstanding FFEL Program loan on July 1, 1993 to qualify for deferment of loan repayment under the Federal Stafford Program anytime within the life of the borrower’s loan(s);
  • 34 CFR 674.53(c) enables Federal Perkins Loan borrowers who are full time teachers of mathematics, science, foreign languages, bilingual education or any other field of expertise where the State educational agency determined there is a shortage of qualified teachers to qualify for cancellation of up to 100 percent of their loan;
  • 34 CFR 686.12(d) enables grant recipients to fulfill their teaching obligation under the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program; and
  • 34 CFR 653.50(a)(2)(ii) enables scholars to qualify for the reduction of teaching obligation under the Paul Douglas Teacher Scholarship Program.
A state that desires to propose teacher shortage areas for designation must submit the information required under the program regulations for the following programs:
  • Targeted teacher deferment for borrowers under the Family Federal Education Loan (FFEL) and Federal Supplemental Loans for Students (SLS) programs (34 CFR 682.210(q));
  • Full-time teaching in fields of expertise, cancellation of up to 100 percent of their debt under the Federal Perkins Loan Program (34 CFR 674.53(c));
  • Reduction of the teaching obligation for scholars under the Paul Douglas Teacher Scholarship Program (34 CFR 653.50(a)); and
  • Teaching obligation for recipients under the Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program (34 CFR 686).

Teacher Shortage Areas nationwide listing for the years 1990-91 through 2012-13, published April 2012.