Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Utah Governor Asks Former Teachers To Return To The Classroom

Veteran teacher Jody Lee-Chadde reads with fourth graders at Tsé'bii'nidzisgai Elementary School in Monument Valley. Utah officials are hoping to recruit more teachers who will stick around by recruiting educators who have experience in the classroom.
Kelsie Moore
/
KUER
Utah is struggling with a teacher shortage as nearly half of new teachers in the state leave the classroom within their first five years. State officials are hoping to reverse that trend by convincing former teachers to return to the classrom.

Utah Governor Gary Herbert is asking teachers who have left the profession to consider returning to the classroom as schools are struggling with a shortage of educators. Speaking at the state capitol Wednesday, Herbert said the state needs to do a better job of “recruiting and retaining.”

As part of his remarks, Governor Herbert cited statistics gathered by the Utah Education Policy Center. In particular, 47 percent of new Utah teachers will leave the profession in 5 years. That number rises to 56 percent at the seven-year mark. 

 

With low numbers in university teacher training programs, Herbert asked young people to consider the profession. But he also stressed teaching as an option for people mid-career.

“Maybe it’s a change of career,” Herbert said. “Maybe it’s veteran teachers who have left and now they’ve got more time on their hands and can come back. And have an opportunity to get back into the classroom.”

Herbert was referring to people who have been trained for the classroom but have left for a variety of reasons, such as taking time off to raise children or seeking out a new career challenge.

State superintendent Sydnee Dickson said the state is learning to be more flexible with a younger generation of teachers.

“[Baby boomers] went into a career and stayed with a career,” Dickson said. “But when we look at our young people, the millennial generation and those to follow, they think about careers very differently.”

Dickson said that just because a younger teacher leaves the profession doesn’t mean they have written if off for good. And despite some misconceptions, Dickson said the process of coming back can be relatively quick and painless.

As a way to stoke interest, the state in collaboration with Envision Utah has created a website called returntoteaching.org — a questionnaire aimed at former teachers who might be considering or are interested in returning to the job.

 

Lee Hale began listening to KUER while he was teaching English at a Middle School in West Jordan (his one hour commute made for plenty of listening time). Inspired by what he heard he applied for the Kroc Fellowship at NPR headquarters in DC and to his surprise, he got it. Since then he has reported on topics ranging from TSA PreCheck to micro apartments in overcrowded cities to the various ways zoo animals stay cool in the summer heat. But, his primary focus has always been education and he returns to Utah to cover the same schools he was teaching in not long ago. Lee is a graduate of Brigham Young University and is also fascinated with the way religion intersects with the culture and communities of the Beehive State. He hopes to tell stories that accurately reflect the beliefs that Utahns hold dear.
KUER is listener-supported public radio. Support this work by making a donation today.