Thread: How Immigration Reform Could Help Alleviate the Teacher Shor

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Education/bg1884.cfm

How Immigration Reform Could Help Alleviate the Teacher Shortage
by Kirk A. Johnson, Ph.D.
October 5, 2005
Backgrounder #1884


Before each new school year, there is a predictable barrage of news stories lamenting the lack of qualified public school teachers, especially in the hard-to-fill areas of math and science. This year, math and sciÂÂ*ence teacher shortages have been reported across the nation, from Alabama to Nevada and from Texas to Utah.

There are a number of potential ways to increase the supply of math and science teachers, but one solution in particular shows great promise: recruiting English-speaking math and science teachers from abroad by expanding the H-1B visa program. Such a strategy would have a number of benefits:

More children would be taught by qualified teachers with degrees in the subject matter, which is particularly important at the junior high and high school levels.
Immigrant teaching contracts could be structured to give local districts more stability and flexibility in their teaching corps.
Foreign public school teachers operating under the H-1B visa program would represent a relaÂÂ*tively low security risk compared to other immiÂÂ*grants because they would be integrated into an existing accountability system involving princiÂÂ*pals, superintendents, and school boards.
The Problem

The reported shortage of math and science teachers is not a new problem, and it is not localized in a handÂÂ*ful of random areas. Indeed, this is a persistent issue that has been reported on an annual basis throughÂÂ*out the United States. The issue has become more pressing in recent years because of the requireÂÂ*ments for “highly qualifiedâ€? teachers under the No Child Left Behind Act.

A smattering of quotes from recent news articles outlines the problem:

Alabama: “Officials said they’ll hire so-called ‘long-term substitutes’ for the teaching slots that they don’t fill by the first day of class.�[1]
Texas: “Texas schools are experiencing the repercussions of a math teacher shortage, state officials say.� “They [school districts] cannot find math and science teachers.�[2]

Utah: “A teacher shortage has been forecast for years. A couple of years ago, some districts started school with substitutes and a few unmanned classes. And right now, there aren’t enough math, science, special education and English-as-a-second-language teachers to go around, state reports show.�[3]

Nevada: “Substitutes will replace a shortfall of about 500 teachers in specialty areas when stuÂÂ*dents begin pouring into Clark County School District classrooms in late August.â€?[4]

While some researchers have questioned whether the overall teacher shortage in the United States is simply a function of the “revolving doorâ€? (i.e., teachÂÂ*ers simply changing jobs between teaching posts from one year to the next),[5] growing evidence sugÂÂ*gests that there is an actual shortage of math and sciÂÂ*ence teachers to fill open positions. In 2002, the National Research Council suggested that the shortÂÂ*age is so daunting that individuals with Ph.D.s should be recruited into elementary and secondary classrooms to teach these technical subjects.[6]

While there are a number of potential reasons for the shortage, one of the more plausible is ecoÂÂ*nomic: In the market for individuals with math and science skills, the teaching profession generally does not compensate as competitively as other fields. Even after adjusting for the additional time off for summer vacation, entry-level pay for techniÂÂ*cal math and science teachers can lag behind the entry-level pay for technical disciplines in the priÂÂ*vate sector. A recent editorial by The Indianapolis Star put it bluntly: “A drug company chemist earnÂÂ*ing $60,000 a year would be reluctant to take a $32,000-a-year entry-level teaching job.â€?[7]

Alleviating the Shortage

What can be done to increase the supply of math and science teachers? One strategy is to increase teaching compensation through incentive pay and thereby lure current math and science professionals away from business and industry. However, the union-based contracts found in many public school districts typically do not allow incentive pay.

Frustration with rigid teaching contracts prompted former IBM chief executive officer Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., to write:

The heart of the problem is the arcane way we recruit and prepare teachers, along with the lockstep single salary scheduleâ€â€

There would be no teacher shortage if we didn't have to teach all the anchor babies and illegal children.