Amid a nationwide crisis in training, recruiting, and retaining teachers, the House Committee on Education and the Workforce held a hearing on September 25th on “Innovative Teacher Preparation: Properly Equipping America’s Educators.” Representative Aaron Bean (R – FL), chair of the hearing, began the hearing by saying, “I like to consider myself to be a very optimistic person, but I will say this: When it comes to our K-12 education system, we are facing a giant warning.”

The numbers he gave made his point for him: 

  • 86% of public schools reported difficulties in hiring teachers for the 2023-2024 school year. 
  • Sixteen percent of teachers left their schools between 2020 and 2022.
  • Only 20% of teachers say they are very satisfied with their jobs. 
  • Only 16% would recommend the teaching profession to others.

In order to work toward solutions for these problems, the Committee invited several education experts to give testimony. While these speakers were all from different backgrounds, many of the solutions they proposed were similar.

Paid Apprenticeships and Professional Development, Not Free Labor 

As Sharif El-Mekki, the founder and CEO of Philadelphia’s Center for Black Educator Development, said in his testimony, “Teacher candidates are often required to complete unpaid student teaching experiences, which can last several months. For many, the inability to earn an income during this period creates an insurmountable barrier to entering the profession.” In other words, teachers-in-training are paying to work rather than getting paid for their work. While this pay-to-work period is temporary, teachers-in-training often have to take on loans or second jobs, leading to burnout and turnaround.

One proposed solution came from Arizona State University’s Dr. Carole Basile, Dean of the Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. She testified to the Committee about Arizona State’s strategic staffing initiative, “The Next Education Workforce.” Unlike programs that just offer scholarships or paid apprenticeships to teachers-in-training without adding any element of professional development, Arizona State’s program actually works with schools to create paid positions that teachers-in-training can perform successfully and learn from in the process. 

Through this program, teachers-in-training are fairly compensated for their labor while continuing to receive professional development and mentorship. With “clearly defined responsibilities that allow [teachers-in-training] to learn in stages, gain competencies, and grow professionally,” both teachers-in-training and the students they serve benefit. In short, one path forward for teacher training programs, per Basile, is to “[w]ork with schools to create role-based professional experiences that teacher candidates can perform successfully — and that serve identified learning needs in schools.” 

Appalachian State University is pursuing a similar path. Dr. Melba Spooner, dean of the Reich College of Education, said that Appalachian State will be starting a paid apprenticeship program, in partnership with the University of North Carolina’s laboratory schools, which are simultaneously aimed at improving student performance in low-performing schools and training teachers. “Apprentices will work alongside experienced educators to observe, assist, and gradually take on increasing responsibilities in teaching all while completing teacher preparation coursework. The goal is to provide flexible and accessible opportunities for transfer and non-traditional students,” Spooner explained.

Team-Based Model

Arizona State’s “Next Education Workforce” initiative champions a team-based model. Dr. Greg Mendez, a high school principal in Arizona, has partnered with the initiative to move away from a model in which “one teacher works individually with a group of learners in a classroom…[because it] promotes unrealistic expectations by assuming individual teachers working in isolation can meet the needs of all students.” By implementing a team-based model in which every classroom has multiple adults with different expertise and every team member has the same shared roster of students, Mendez’s school saw “an increase in job satisfaction, innovation, and perhaps most important, on the job professional development.” Appalachian State’s lab school uses the same team-based model, said Basile. 

It should be noted this model, per Chair Bean’s statement, is quite successful: “Third graders in ASU’s team-based teaching schools experience an extra 1.4 months of reading growth each year, and Algebra I students pass at rates four to seven percentage points higher than their peers in traditional classrooms. Teacher turnover and satisfaction also greatly improve. These results show that we can’t treat teachers like revolving doors and still expect our schools to thrive.”

Nix One-Size-Fits-All Models

Much of the Committee discussion revolved around the inflexibility of teacher training requirements, leading to the profession’s inability to recruit candidates. Mendez, for instance, recommended that teacher training programs “[c]reate more opportunities for working adults in our community to obtain specializations and contribute to the learning experience without undergoing an exhaustive preparation program.” Spooner, likewise, underscored the importance of “flexible, accessible, and affordable” teacher preparation programs that allow people who want to become teachers without prohibitive barriers.

Retention, Not Just Recruitment

Among others, Representative Kevin Kiley (R-CA), a former teacher himself, noted that the problem with the teaching profession is not just about teacher preparation, but about teacher retention. “We definitely need to have alternate pathways into the classroom, as several of the witnesses are making possible. But then the other side of it is retention,” he said. “[F]or all the years of prep that is often necessary to become a teacher…once [they’re] in the classroom, all too often, teachers are just left to fend for themselves.”

Value the Work that Teachers Do

One important point made during the hearing was that it is not just policy that matters with respect to the teacher training and retainment crisis; it is how we speak about a profession that, in some way, touches us all and shapes our future. As Representative Susan Bonamici (D-OR) noted, we must “encourage people to go into the teaching profession by recognizing the importance of our system of public education and not bashing it…Of course we can work together on improvements to the system, but let’s lift up educators who choose to teach.”

We all want teachers to work in positive situations where they feel safe and valued. Unfortunately, teachers frequently report feeling overwhelmed by students’ growing misbehavior and higher academic and social-emotional needs. District bureaucrats and teachers union leaders should recognize this fact and address teachers’ concerns.