Mississippi Today (https://mississippitoday.org/category/teacher-shortage/)
Read this three-part series about the teacher shortage in Mississippi, produced by The Hechinger Report, a nonprofit, independent news organization focused on inequality and innovation in education, in partnership with Mississippi Today.
Mississippi Today Delta reporters Kelsey Davis and Aallyah Wright were awarded the Hechinger Report’s 2018 Educating Children in Mississippi and New Orleans Fellowship to report on what a critical teacher shortage actually looks like and what it means for students and communities.
Mississippi Department of Education says that the rules haven’t changed but the problems are arising now because local school leaders did not pay close enough attention to those requirements. Educators say “there is no confusion here.”
Some of the 19 bills introduced didn’t pass because the money wasn’t there to implement them, lawmaker says and advocates say pay raise that was passed not enough to recruit in critical teacher shortage areas like the Delta.
A report from the National Council on Teacher Quality highlights why aspiring elementary teachers who are black or Hispanic have high failure rates on licensing exams. The group also provides solutions to adequately prepare graduates to teach.
The Mississippi public school teacher shortage is six times worse than it was in 1997, negatively affecting students and adding stress to the lives of already overworked and underpaid teachers.
In several districts in Mississippi, a fifth of teachers are uncertified. One reason is that teacher candidates struggle to meet certification requirements. After years in which little action has been taken to address the teacher shortage crisis, the state recently took steps to help more candidates qualify to become teachers.
An increasing number of school districts in Mississippi have turned to online education programs as they face a critical shortage of certified teachers. Students say the lack of an in-person expert teacher, who can answer questions and spend time with students who are struggling, takes a toll on their education.
In the past 20 years, the number of uncertified teachers in Mississippi’s schools has increased. But in the state’s poorest schools, many of them in the Delta, the numbers far exceed the state average.
Follow this slideshow of photos by photojournalist Eric J. Shelton depicting a day in the life of Delta teacher Kaitlyn Barton as she navigates through her day of teaching, working a second job and, finally, making it home to prepare for her next day in the classroom.