The new school year is just around the corner, but many school districts in the Kansas City region are experiencing a teacher shortage.
Solutions are desperately sought on both sides of the state boundary in Missouri. There are a significant number of available teaching jobs due to the imminent opening of classrooms. On top of that, there aren’t enough substitute teachers, which could lead to bigger class sizes.
The state’s board of education has established a blue-ribbon panel to study the recruitment and retention of teachers, and they have begun conducting public hearings on the subject.
Listed solutions include more monetary support and taking one fewer day of teaching. A school week consisting of just four days is not supported by all of the community’s members. Realignment of employees is another approach mentioned that may be used to boost assistance. This could mean taking administrative staff out of their offices and putting them in charge of teaching.