Michigan's Teacher Shortage

According to a new report, Michigan is in the middle of a giant game of Teacher Tag, but the teachers who are "it" keep running right out of the building. The state is actually breaking records for training new teachers, but the problem is that the veteran teachers are quitting even faster than the new ones can find where the faculty lounge is. Let's see what's up!

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Here are Five Fast Facts on Michigan's teacher shortage:

1. 💨 The Great Departure - Nearly 8k teachers packed up their staplers and left Michigan public schools last year. Strange that so many were willing to take such a huge pay cut to leave...just kidding (sadly).

2. 🎓 The New Recruits - Michigan certified almost 5,500 new teachers last year - the highest number in ten years - but that only covers about 68% of those who left. If you finished 68% of your homework you'd get a "D," but in the economy, they just call it a "stabilizing shortage." 🤔

3. 👀 The Uncertified - Because there aren't enough certified teachers, over 5% of the workforce is now made up of non-certified teachers. This means your next math teacher might actually be three raccoons in a trench coat (but it probably won’t be).

4. 😥 The Hardest Hit - Special education open positions are nearly double the overall average, at 5%. Part of the problem here is that 15% of Michigan's students receive extra support, up from 13% six years ago. 

5. 💲 The Opportunity - The silver lining is that while the system seems to have stabilized overall, there are still many open positions waiting to be filled! No more complaining about not finding a job!

🔥Bottom line: Michigan is working hard to produce new teachers, but with pay declining they can't seem to make the old ones stay put. If the state wants to fix this, they need to figure out how to stop the Great Teacher Escape before the only person left in the school is the janitor. In the meantime, do your teacher a favor: make sure you (or your kids) don't throw that paper airplane today, or the teacher might just join the exodus of those who decided retirement sounds way better than grading essays!

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