Maine teacher shortage fueled by some leaving their profession early as rate of new educators lags

AUGUSTA — Krystin Gilbert’s passion for teaching was instilled in her by the teachers she had growing up.

“I had a math teacher and a resource teacher,” she says. “They have always been there for me and encouraged me to do my best. I wanted to do the same for children who had difficulties, like me.

She graduated from the University of Maine at Farmington in 2019 and was immediately hired in the Augusta area as a kindergarten teacher. During her first year of teaching, she encountered a group of 23 rambunctious 5-year-olds, and later the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two years later, Gilbert transitioned from teaching kindergarten to 2n/a year and met the same group of rambunctious students she had before. She was tasked with calming 23 students, making up for lost learning time during the pandemic while teaching and adhering to the district curriculum.

After two years in the profession she dreamed of growing up, Gilbert did not expect her to be so quick to want to get out of it.

“I debated for a few months until I put in my resignation,” she said. “I spoke with my dad, and he said, ‘I can tell you don’t appreciate that. “”

Gilbert’s situation is an example of a problem that is happening nationally and across the state – people who can teach aren’t using their degree for a number of reasons. But according to Penny Bishop, a professor and dean of the University of Maine’s college of education and human development, the pandemic has created a “perfect storm” for a problem that already existed.

And in addition to people leaving the profession, there have also been several retirements in central Maine school districts over the past year and many vacancies for weeks or months at a time.

“There are a number of pressing, non-pandemic issues, but to add to that the challenges they’ve been facing since the pandemic, it’s the perfect storm,” Bishop said.

According to Gilbert, her main problem, besides the behavior of the students, was the lack of remuneration for what her work had become – she not only had to teach the students’ curriculum, but had to discipline the students and adapt to those who were in trouble. delay due to the pandemic.

“The behaviors weren’t there last year,” she said. “…I was expected to tame them and it’s difficult. Once one student does it, the whole class does it.

Like Gilbert, Jessica Whirley left the profession, but not because of student behavior, but rather because she lived paycheck to paycheck and lost the drive she once had with work.

Whirley has a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education for infants and toddlers and worked at a preschool in Lewiston until a year into the pandemic. She had previously left the profession for similar money-related reasons, but returned to teaching out of love for her.

Once the pandemic hit, a new house also arrived, a broken furnace and she was at a point where she was unable to be at a place where she felt financially stable.

“It was hard to quit teaching, like anything, when you find something you love,” she said. “But at the end of the day, I had to look at my bills. I had just bought a house, then the furnace went out and a few other things – I couldn’t live on paycheck after paycheck.

Bishop said the teacher pipeline problem is more complicated than the lack of educators in the profession and said while the data doesn’t support the idea that teachers are leaving due to the pandemic, it doesn’t did not help the situation.

Bishop talked about pay points and the pandemic and post-pandemic conditions in which people start teaching, such as Gilbert’s point.

“It comes down to the conditions we create for educators,” she said. “It’s a wonderful and noble profession and there is nothing like it – it allows all other professions, but society does not value it as important as other professions.”

Bishop shared that even before the pandemic, nationally, teacher enrollment programs were down 30%. She said it wasn’t really a problem in Maine or New England, but the problem had become “more pervasive” because of the pandemic.

Enrollment data provided by the University of Maine system shows that students are still enrolling as education majors, even after the pandemic began. As of fall 2020, there were 375 freshmen enrolled as an education major, and as of fall 2021, the number has held steady at 377 freshmen. The numbers are down slightly from fall 2019, the year before the pandemic, when 404 freshmen were enrolled in education.

There is no data on the number of first-year education majors for fall 2022 and while the numbers are consistent, there is no guarantee that majors will be teaching in Maine after graduation.

According to data from the Maine Department of Educationbetween 2013 and 2022, the number of teachers in Kennebec County has increased by only 3.72% and statewide, the number of teachers between this period has increased by 3.44%, this which brings the number of public school teachers in the state to 14,874. However, the number of people across the state with teaching degrees is not part of the data.

Initiatives to retain teachers in the profession include the federal government imposing the minimum wage a teacher can earn in Maine, anywhere in the state, at $40,000 if they are holder of a bachelor’s degree. Teachers are paid according to “steps” and according to their degree – master’s degrees are better paid.

Of 12,202 classroom teachers across the state, the Ministry of Education data has the average teacher salary in Maine at $57,977. But if this class teacher worked in the Augusta Public Schools, it would take them 21 years, or 12 steps, to get to the statewide average salary.

The University of Maine system has attempted to combat the problem in several ways to create flexible paths to becoming a teacher, similar to the state initiatives focused on the salary that teachers receive.

The 4+1 program through the University of Maine system has helped students accelerate their education to earn their master’s degree in five years, and through the college working closely with academic departments, some programs have begun to allow student teachers to be paid for their time spent working since most internships are unpaid, even if they work full time.

By paying teachers for their time teaching students, it not only gives them a salary, but can help diversify the profession – non-traditional students with families, or students unable to follow a traditional four-year program, might not have the same ability to work for free.

“They’re still learning how to teach, but it really flips the narrative with teaching and practicum and creates a more equitable path,” Bishop said.

As for Gilbert and Whirley, they have both found new professions where they feel they can be financially stable, but also have peace of mind. Whirley is a unique partner in the “mortgage world” and Gilbert is an art teacher and works part-time in retail.

Gilbert is worried if the problem is not solved – and the meaning of the problem, the appeal of teaching, there could be consequences for classrooms in the future.

“If there aren’t enough teachers there, if things don’t change, the classrooms are going to be overcrowded and that’s going to have a huge impact on the kids,” Gilbert said. “I feel like if our salary and expectations don’t change, the teachers won’t come back.”

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