Column: A shortage of those needed for the ‘greatest profession’

California is experiencing a teacher shortage, the most severe in nearly three decades. That fact is not in dispute.

The nonprofit Learning Policy Institute reported in February that the shortage, which affected 75% of districts in California in 2016, had deepened just in the past year. Many districts in the study acknowledged hiring teachers who weren’t fully credentialed out of sheer desperation.

It could get worse still. The Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning estimates that California will need an additional 100,000 teachers over the next decade. It will be a struggle to meet that demand with enrollment in teacher-preparation programs currently near a historic low.

The problem has many perceived causes. Recruitment of newcomers to teaching can be hampered because of the relatively low compensation compared with other professions requiring similar education and skill levels. There’s a high turnover rate, which some education experts link to difficult working conditions and a lack of involvement by teachers in making decisions that directly affect how they run their classrooms. Waves of retirements create openings that can be difficult to fill quickly with qualified applicants.

What many people likely don’t realize, however, is that the shortage is much worse in certain geographical areas and in particular subjects. Like many issues in education, this reflects and exacerbates inequality.

It also leads to a complacency in some communities –– a “my school is doing fine, why worry?” kind of attitude.

Unfortunately, the teacher shortage typically hurts the schools most in need of help, those in urban and low-income neighborhoods where teachers are often paid less, receive less support from parents and hard-pressed administrators, and sometimes work under stressful physical and emotional conditions.

In areas like these, an estimated 20% to 30% –– in some schools even as many as 50% –– of teachers don’t last beyond their first five years. These are the places most likely to hire new teachers that haven’t even completed the necessary requirements to become fully credentialed.

Contrast that with a district like Irvine Unified, considered by many measures to be one of the top districts in the state and one of the most attractive to teachers.

“We’re probably atypical for a district,” said Eamonn O’Donovan, assistant superintendent of Human Resources at Irvine Unified. “We’ve been able to fill all of our positions.”

The shortage also shows up in other ways. Teachers with training in certain subjects — math, science and special education — are in particularly short supply at a time when the need for these specialists is great.

There are no simple answers. One bill under consideration in Sacramento would offer teachers a temporary tax break and another would restart a student-loan forgiveness program for teachers in certain areas. Both of those proposed solutions would only nip at the heels of the problem.

Perhaps more effective will be the active efforts underway by some institutions to attract more people into the field, and to give them more support so that they will continue teaching. Cal State Fullerton, for instance, has waged an aggressive campaign to recruit new students into its teacher-training program.

“We are going out and talking to everyone who will listen to us,” said Lisa Kirtman, dean of Cal State Fullerton’s College of Education. “We’re making sure they understand the positive side of teaching.”

Kirtman is also working on “removing barriers” for students who might be interested in pursuing a teaching career. That doesn’t mean lowering standards, she emphasized. Instead, she is focused on funneling scholarship money to education students to help defray the cost of items such as fees for standardized tests and applications.

She has also championed, in accordance with the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, an “integrated pathway” that enables students to take all the required courses to earn both a bachelor’s degree and a teaching credential in four years instead of five. And she’s working in partnership with low-income school districts to help them secure resources such as computer tablets for classrooms and access to professional development so that teachers can continue learning and growing on the job.

The results so far have been positive, Kirtman said. Enrollment in CSUF’s education department is up 15% over last year. At a recent university job fair, 68 districts sent representatives and many new hires were made on the spot.

Other organizations are also working on the issue. The Orange County Department of Education, for example, is among those entities using state grant money to provide tuition assistance to aspiring teachers. Its Institute for Leadership Development works on strategy with other groups to and is developing training programs aimed specifically at substitute teachers.

All of these efforts will help, but we still have a long way to go to fill the immediate hiring needs of schools throughout the state, and to address the longer term issues that plague this most important but grossly under-appreciated profession.

Perhaps if there’s any reason for optimism, it’s because of educators like Kirtman, whose passion and dedication to teaching are downright infectious.

“It’s not the easiest job in the world,” she acknowledged, “but I believe in my heart and soul that it is the greatest profession.”

Let’s hope her enthusiasm will be shared by many more in the years to come.

PATRICE APODACA is a former Newport-Mesa public school parent and former Los Angeles Times staff writer. She lives in Newport Beach.