State officials could be doing more to help recruit and retain qualified teachers. That’s one finding in a report released to lawmakers today by the state’s independent watchdog agency.
In the 2018-2019 school year about 1-percent of teaching positions statewide went unfilled, but hone in on certain areas and the picture is much worse. For instance, in western Virginia’s Bland County, 15-percent of positions were empty.
State auditors from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission, or JLARC, recently surveyed localities on a number of educational issues as part of a report on the Virginia Department of Education.
Presenting the findings Monday, JLARC’s Joe McMahon told lawmakers that school divisions cited teacher recruitment and retention as one of the most common issues they needed more help from the state to fix.
“Only half of school divisions reported that the agency’s current efforts are effective,” he said.
The report recommends the Department of Education begin by actually collecting locality-specific data so resources can be funnelled to the places that most need it. The report also suggested VDOE hire more staff to implement statewide solutions.
“Kentucky has a state initiative to attract new teachers and provide resources and training,” McMahon pointed out in his presentation. “North Carolina has staff to support new teacher programs and research teacher workforce policy.”
But even with additional resources, McMahon reminded lawmakers the most effective thing they could do to address the issue is raise teacher pay. Depending on the part of the state, Virginia teachers could make anywhere from $33,000 to $78,000 a year.
The findings on teacher recruitment were just one element of a more than 100-page report on the Department of Education.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
