School leaders work to counter teacher shortage

Across Johnson County, school administrators are facing a two-pronged staffing crisis — seeing fewer qualified candidates are applying for new teaching positions and dozens of teachers are leaving for other jobs.

Clark-Pleasant Community School Corporation had 118 teacher resignations during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years combined, and at Center Grove Community School Corporation last fall, disputes about wages resulted in teacher protests at school board meetings. The protests followed 56 teacher resignations during the 2021-22 school year, 50 of which were for reasons other than retirement.

School districts are also seeing fewer young people following teaching as a career. County schools have turned to cadet teaching programs, which allow high school students to shadow full-time teachers, and student-teaching programs, which let college students pursuing education degrees get a taste of life in the classroom while earning credit.

This spring, Center Grove officials held the school district’s first signing ceremony for future teachers, guaranteeing alumni a first-round interview if they apply to teach at the district after attaining their college degrees.

The issues of teacher resignations and a decrease in qualified applicants are common themes across the country, and have been since the start of the pandemic in 2020. In seven states, more teachers left the profession than any year on record, according to an article from Chalkbeat, an education reporting website.

While Indiana didn’t have record turnover, there are many vacancies in districts across the state as the school year approaches. On the Indiana Department of Education’s job board, there were more than 1,700 teaching jobs still open statewide as of Friday.

Fewer college students are interested in becoming teachers. From 2006 to 2020, the number of Americans earning teaching licenses gradually dropped from over 320,000 to just over 215,000, according to the Chalkbeat article. In 2022, 62 percent of respondents to professional educator organization PDK International’s Public Attitudes Toward the Public Schools poll said they wouldn’t want their child to become a teacher, the highest percentage in the poll’s 54-year history.

The rate of teachers leaving the profession and declining interest in the education profession among young adults have caused concern among school leaders throughout Johnson County.

Wages

Teacher salaries continue to be a topic of conversation, from Edinburgh schools, the smallest district in the county, to Center Grove schools, the largest.

Last year, about 66% of voters in Johnson County’s Blue River Township and Bartholomew County’s German Township voted to increase the education contribution of their property taxes about 40% over eight years so Edinburgh schools could raise teacher salaries, increase school security, hire bus drivers and buy additional school buses.

Without referendum money, Edinburgh schools had to rely on assistance from the state to boost salaries to meet the $40,000 Indiana teacher salary minimum. This year, those extra property tax dollars are starting to roll into the district, which will come into play this fall with teacher raises on the table during collective bargaining.

However, the number of teachers leaving the districts still increase, from 10 to 13, between the 2021-22 school year and last year, Superintendent Ron Ross said in an email.

In general, it is harder to retain workers than it has been in years past, Ross said.

“This is a trend across the nation in several fields, not just education. Look at the wages that McDonald’s is willing to pay to attract workers,” he said. “We are focusing our retention efforts on relationship-based solutions. We want our employees to know they are doing important work and that they are more than just a number. We care about them as employees and as people.”

But the issue of wages isn’t just a point of contention at smaller school districts. Last fall, Center Grove school board meetings were packed with teachers carrying picket signs and voicing their disapproval over proposed contracts.

The negotiations lasted through December, when the Center Grove Board of Trustees voted to approve a 5.65% pay raise for teachers, along with a $500 retention bonus and an insurance holiday for one pay period.

Members of the United Teachers Association of Center Grove, or UTACG objected to the percentage throughout the negotiations because it was the same increase given to administrators, who already made significantly more than starting teachers. Superintendent Rich Arknaoff, for example, now makes $237,981, more than five times the $46,015 minimum salary for a full-time teacher at Center Grove schools, according to data from Indiana Gateway.

School district administrators formed the Teacher Recruitment, Retention and Recognition taskforce, which focused on how to not only keep teachers at the school district, but attract new ones. During the 2022-23 school year, 33 teachers resigned, district spokesperson Stacy Conrad said in an email.

The figure is a marked decrease from the 56 who resigned the year before, but work still needs to be done on the salary front to make sure those numbers don’t pick back up again, said David Lawson, UTACG co-president and English teacher at Center Grove High School.

“I think we’ve tried to share the sense of urgency about colleagues looking at pay in other districts. I think our district has taken good steps to ensure a pipeline of good teachers, but we need competitive pay and benefits,” Lawson said. “I think a sense of urgency needs to be heard and felt across the district.”

Stress

Along with a battle to increase teacher wages, teacher stress has increased in recent years, as educators had to teach students virtually during the much of the pandemic. Even after classes shifted back to in-person, rising tensions with parents and new laws affecting education from the state legislature all played factors in teachers deciding to not just leave their school districts, but the profession altogether.

While Franklin Community School Corporation had a successful teacher salary referendum in 2019, and raised starting teacher salaries to $46,000 during the 2022-23 school year, its 23 teacher resignations were an exact match of the previous year, human resources director Michelle Bright said.

“There are a lot of demands,” she said. “It’s not just about teaching and instruction anymore, there are so many things at every level that make teaching hard, from state standards to dealing with parents and some of the behavioral issues from students. Behavioral issues, we’re dealing with always, but I think there’s been greater, bigger issues with students. They’re dealing with those things, and all those things become overwhelming for teachers. It’s just a lot.”

Laws that restrict what can be discussed in the classroom and divert teachers’ attention away from academics will ultimately drive more of them away, said Tony Harris, president of the Franklin Community Teachers Association.

While Harris didn’t single out any specific laws, multiple Johnson County teachers recently voiced their opinions about House Enrolled Act 1608, which took effect July 1 and requires schools to notify parents if a child requests a name or pronoun change.

“We’re at a weird place in Indiana where legislation has taken a bite out of teachers. Until some of that changes, I don’t see (teacher shortages) changing,” Harris said. “I just think certain laws passed right now have put so much stress on teachers. It’s not great for schools, but it’s the world we live in right now. I think over time, we will kind of get back to normal. If not, we’ll continue to see this.”

At Clark-Pleasant schools, which had 61 teachers resign two years ago and 57 teachers resign during the 2022-23 school year, some of the best teachers are leaving education, said John Schilawski, the school district’s HR director.

“We have those who are leaving education in general and it’s a little sad, because I’ve had some very good teachers who have taken other really good opportunities,” he said. “A lot of times, they’ll talk about money, they’ll talk about burnout. For some of the younger ones, it’s various different adventures. There are a lot of opportunities for people and that’s why we have to get back to our core of building relationships.”

Retention efforts

School districts have focused on building relationships with current educators, increasing salaries and providing teachers with mental health services as ways of retaining them.

Center Grove school board members approved a new 5,800-square-foot, $6.1 million wellness center for staff members in April. The center will include medical exam rooms, a fitness center, mental health consultation rooms and a dedicated space for physical therapy, along with an outdoor walking path.

The Wellness Center will be key in retaining teachers, assistant superintendent of operations Bill Long said in March.

“We’ll have a space utilized for physical therapy for our staff. They’ll be able to walk on a treadmill or ride a bike. We’ll also have a classroom space where we might teach a lesson on yoga,” he said. “Our hope is the Wellness Center will help attract and retain teachers and provide good quality mental health care for our staff and family members.”

At Indian Creek schools, teacher resignations decreased from 17 during the 2021-22 school year to 10 resignations last year. Support is especially important for new teachers who are getting adjusted to the profession, said Andrea Perry, assistant superintendent.

“It’s creating positive school culture. I think our community definitely supports educators and what they’re doing with students,” Perry said. “Something we initiated in our school district is a mentorship program, spearheaded by our administrators. They meet with new teachers, who are assigned a mentor teacher in their school building. I think it’s essential to support teachers in their first year.”

At Clark-Pleasant schools, administrators have used scheduled salary increases as incentive for teachers to continue working in the district. Teachers earn no less than $53,000 after five years of teaching, $58,000 after 10 years and $63,000 after 15 years with the district, Schilawski said.

“Some of those sorts of things have helped. It becomes a bidding war and money can attract talent, but culture is what retains it,” he said.

At Greenwood Community School Corporation, teacher resignations decreased from 28 during the 2021-22 school year to 22 during the 2022-23 year. The school district has a starting salary of $48,000 for full-time teachers, also one of the highest rates in the county. Making sure all teachers are paid competitively has been key in making sure teachers don’t leave the district at a high rate, Superintendent Terry Terhune said.

“It’s been a priority for the district to be competitive with teacher salaries,” Terhune said. “We’re trying to create the best possible environment and support teachers as much as possible. This summer, more teachers came to professional development than we had before the pandemic. Those are opportunities for them to learn and grow.”

Recruitment

While school officials’ efforts can retain teachers for years to come, they will eventually need to replace them when those teachers retire or move on to their next chapter in life, which is where recruitment comes into play. With fewer people expressing interest in the teaching profession, the need for recruitment is growing, school officials say.

As Center Grove’s Teacher Recruitment, Retention and Recognition taskforce held meetings to come up with ways to get new applicants interested in teaching at the district, they looked within. May 9 marked the school district’s first signing ceremony for future teachers, as 20 Center Grove High School seniors interested in studying education in college signed agreements that granted them a first-round interview should they apply to work at Center Grove schools after college.

By incentivizing students with a first-round interview, students will know their time at Center Grove is helping potentially build a career for them, HR Director Krista Nelson said at the event.

“Our hope is when they come back here, we can show them the great educational experience that not only they had as a student, but the great employment experience that they can have within Center Grove schools,” she said. “Being a teacher, you have the opportunity to make a difference for our children every single day.”

At Indian Creek schools, a cadet teaching program allows high school students to shadow teachers in the classroom to see if education is the right path for them, Perry said.

“I think our students are learning from our own (teachers) and I think they are part of our school culture, where once they complete the college years they want to come be a teacher and stay here long term,” she said.

Clark-Pleasant officials have gone out of state, visiting Xavier University in Cincinnati to recruit candidates at job fairs, Schilawski said.

“Relationships become very important. From the time you meet candidates, your big thing is trying to attract them. But there’s a sales pitch, you want to make yourself different from some of the other schools,” he said. “We have a favorable maternity leave policy, we have really good retirement benefits. You’ve gotta know what to say in a brief amount of time to spark their interest.”

BY THE NUMBERS

Teacher resignations by school district

Source: Johnson County schools