Schools throughout the state have struggled to hire teachers due to a declining state aid and resources, according to a recent report from a Wisconsin nonprofit organization.
The Wisconsin Budget Project released a report last week called “Budget Cuts and Teacher Shortages: With Fewer Resources, Schools Struggle to Find Teachers.” The report found that Wisconsin broke from a national trend of increasing school resources by reducing school spending in recent years.
Most school spending consists of employee salaries and
Spending cuts have made it challenging for schools to find qualified teachers, especially math and science teachers. The teaching vacancies at some northern rural districts are described as an “extreme shortage.”
“School districts that face teacher shortages have needed to hire teachers with fewer skills or less experience than desired, ask educators to teach outside their area of expertise, use long-term substitute teachers to teach classes, and require teachers already at the school to take on additional duties,” according to the report.
The report said that sing alternatives to combat the lack of professionals hired at a school may make it harder for students to receive a high-quality education.
In higher education, the UW Board of Regents
The report also explored how only 5 percent of teachers were of color compared to the 29 percent of Wisconsin students who are of color. In some school districts, less than 2 percent of teachers are of color.
“A racially diverse teacher workforce is associated with higher academic achievement by students of color,” according to the report.
In Wisconsin, which was recently ranked one of the worst in the nation for racial disparities by a different organization, schools would need to hire 11,000 teachers of color to match the percentage of students of color.
“To ensure Wisconsin is competitive in the future, our schools must have the resources to offer all students a high-quality education,” the report stated. “Teacher shortages and a teacher workforce that lacks racial diversity make that more difficult.”
The report comes after Gov. Scott Walker has pledged that funding K-12 public education and higher education are some of his top priorities in the 2017-’19 budget.
