By Dan Sparks

State Senator, District 27

Sheila Berger has been the principal of Sumner Elementary School in Austin for eight years. In that time, a lot has changed. When she first came to the school and started hiring general classroom teachers, she told me she could expect as many as 150 applicants per job opening. That number has dwindled drastically; last year she only got five applicants for the same type of job opening.

Berger’s struggles to hire quality teachers is shared by hundreds of school districts across the state. In fact, between 2010 and 2014, Minnesota experienced a 48.5 percent drop in newly licensed math teachers alone. The problem arose several years ago after the Minnesota legislature implemented a new ‘basic skills’ test required of all people trying to get a teaching license in Minnesota. The new test was consistent with Minnesota keeping high standards for licensing new teachers. However, the law has created some unintended consequences — the largest being a difficulty for many new teachers to become licensed and turning off potential new teachers who were educated in neighboring states.

Austin used to more easily pull in new teachers educated in Iowa, but its close proximity to the state now serves as a hindrance and exacerbates its struggles to attract new teachers. Berger told me all about the problem in a meeting we had recently about issues the Austin Public Schools are currently dealing with. I understand that parents simply want the best teacher possible in their child’s classroom. But right now many schools aren’t able to hire the best teacher, and are instead being forced to hire un-licensed teachers or teachers who are on a variance until they pass the new test required by state law.

Luckily, the legislature is aware of the problem, and last year passed several key pieces of legislation to address the problem. That legislation includes grants for students to help pay for their student teaching, loan forgiveness for students going into the teaching profession, and incentives for teachers in high demand subject areas like special education. Likewise, the legislature is also addressing how teachers become licensed, and are attempting to streamline that process to make it less confusing and cumbersome for new teachers.

Gov. Mark Dayton has also noted the difficulties schools are facing as they attempt to hire teachers, and has included $5 million in his budget proposal to help combat the problem. That money could be used in a variety of ways, including as incentives schools could offer to teaching candidates to help offset the costs of becoming licensed.

I am hopeful the legislature can make important changes to the way we license teachers this session because schools across the state are in desperate need of help.