ArkLaTex districts facing teacher, staff shortages ahead of upcoming school year

SHREVEPORT, La. (KSLA) - As students prepare for the upcoming 2022-2023 school year, districts in the ArkLaTex are addressing teacher and staff shortages.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, Ark., La. and Texas are all experiencing shortages in five or more subject areas.

Subject area shortages by state

Arkansas

• arts and music education
• world languages
• science
• computer science
• social studies

Louisiana

• English as a second language
• special education
• mathematics
• science
• world language

Texas

• English as a second language
• career and technical education
• special education
• mathematics
• computer science
• language arts

“We were having this trouble in education even before COVID,” said Caddo Schools Chief Academic Officer Keith Burton.

He said Caddo Parish Public Schools have come up with several ways to recruit and retain teachers.

“We’re starting a strong mentor program that we’ve always had, but we’re building that up even to a higher degree. We’re also incentivizing teachers more. A new teacher coming in immediately receives a $1000 bonus for a newly hired certified teachers. We have schools that are harder to staff than others. So, if you teach in a core area, science, social studies, math, reading then we’re going to pay you $2,500.”

In June, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards signed House bill 546 into law that no longer requires people to take a Praxis Core exam to enter teacher preparation programs. Burton said he thinks this bill will also attract more applicants.

“It’s not only going to help Caddo Parish but it’s going to help all of the states because of the fact we desperately need teachers. So, any road blocks that we can remove that’s going to incentivize someone to look at the build of education is going to be very positive,” he said.

School districts in Marshall and Texarkana are also reeving up their recruitment efforts by hosting job fairs in hopes to bring people to the classroom.

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