Regarding “Teacher pay fell during the pandemic; Missouri’s at the bottom” (April 27): There are more than 1,200 openings in the state for K-12 teachers — a record high.
With a starting salary of $27,000, potential teachers in rural areas simply cannot afford to teach, especially when student loan debt is factored in. Plus, teaching certificates from Missouri are accepted in all 50 states, with Missouri one of only 13 states holding that distinction. That means that a teacher educated here is easily lured to a neighboring state that can afford to pay them 20% to 40% more.
At the Missouri University of Science and Technology teacher education program, research shows how poor state funding is impacting surrounding school districts. When these schools can’t find qualified teachers, they don’t offer higher level science, technology, engineering and mathematics courses, which means if those students go to college for a STEM field, they are likely to wind up less prepared.
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The teacher shortage will be here for an entire generation of Missourians unless we immediately start to fill in the gaps. Every student deserves to have a caring, qualified teacher in the classroom.
Beth Kania-Gosche, Ph.D. • Rolla