Non-traditional hires surge amid Idaho teacher shortage

As Idaho’s teacher shortage continues, school districts and charter schools are being forced to improvise, Idaho EdNews reports. They are hiring more and more professionals with no teaching experience or college graduates who didn’t major in education. They are moving some veteran teachers into new subjects and disciplines to fill holes.

The numbers put this change into focus, writes EdNews reporter Kevin Richert. In 2016-17, nearly 4.9 percent of Idaho teachers entered the classroom through some form of alternative authorization — up from 2.7 percent in 2013-14.

Those included 403 teachers hired in 2016-17 as “content specialists” – professionals looking to move into teaching, such as a chemist taking a chemistry teacher’s job. That was up from just 39 three years earlier. Another 223 were hired through the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence, an online certification program for college graduates; that’s up from 95 in 2013-14. There were 253 teachers who switched to a new subject without a teaching endorsement in that subject. And 12 came through the “Teach for America” program. You can read Richert’s full report here .