According to the State Office of Education, 40 percent of newly hired teachers quit within the first five years. And about 1,000 veteran teachers retire each year.
As a result, Utah Foundation reports, half of Utah districts have non-certified teachers in our children’s classes.
“I think we understand the risk of having teachers who aren’t well-qualified teaching our kids,” said state auditor John Dougall.
He heard about a teacher shortage and commissioned a report to figure out why it was happening. His office compared beginning teacher salaries with entry-level wages in other professions. They found teachers make half of those with computer science and engineering job and among the lowest of those with college degrees.
“We need to get serious about fixing these problems,” Dougall said.
View Article