Is finding qualified teachers to fill shortages and replace those leaving the profession harder in the country’s rural areas?
Recent reports show these severe shortages exist in urban, inner-city, suburban and rural school districts. They also report that the struggle of rural districts may be even more severe than in any other segment of the country.
Nichole Dobo, in her article on rural students, found that they are more likely to prefer to stay close to home when it comes time to consider college. She also asked, “What should people who work with rural students do if they find themselves in a higher education desert?”
A higher education desert refers to those rural students who are 50 or more miles away from a university:
“We have been doing a lot of coverage about rural higher education and how rural students graduate from high school at very high rates but go to college at low rates. Before 2016, issues like this that affect rural America tended not to get as much attention as they should have. Things have worsened as rural private colleges have disproportionately closed, and public universities have eliminated majors and programs.” (Dobo, 2024)
How would community and technical colleges provide the answer?
Community and technical colleges throughout the states can provide the most important option now and going forward to help break this rural education higher education gap. Several reasons follow:
- Accessibility and costs: Community and technical colleges are known for their accessibility and flexibility.
- The savings from less cost and debt would mean those expenses would not affect new teachers’ salaries.
- The cost of a baccalaureate in states offering these degrees at community colleges in fields other than education is in the $10,500-$12,000 range for four years. Further, students who take the dual-enrollment path could see that reduction from 25% to 50%.
- By offering degrees explicitly tailored for future educators, they can attract individuals who traditional four-year programs may have deterred due to financial constraints or other commitments such as work and families.
- This accessibility ensures that talented individuals with the passion and potential for teaching are not overlooked.
A recent report in the Community College Daily found that 67% of the community college students who obtained associate degrees in 2019-2020 did not borrow money to attend. Of baccalaureate degree graduates, 39% had not borrowed money.
In terms of tuition, this report listed $3,990 as the average for tuition and fees at public community colleges during the 2023-24 academic year. Again, this is compared to $11,260 at public four-year colleges (Dembicki, 2023).
What happens to ‘equity and equality’
The nation is short 55,000 teachers and another 270,000 persons teaching are underqualified. The terms “equity” and “equality” are sometimes used interchangeably. While these terms might sound alike, they refer to different concepts (National University (2023).
The National University clarification of equality and equity:
- Equality: All students get the same textbooks or other materials.
- Equity points to students’ learning needs—meaning their needs should differ. Therefore, their accommodation would also need to be different. The learning environment must accommodate the students’ educational learning needs.
This clarification showed that the learning environment should be both just and impartial. The outcomes should be as close as possible regardless of race, gender, disability, language, income and other factors that make the students’ backgrounds different.
The goal of equity in K12 schools in the United States and most other countries cannot happen with severe teacher shortages. Far too many of the unqualified people filling classrooms have not received the background necessary to accommodate the unique needs of many of the students in their classrooms.
This slows down the progress many students would otherwise be able to achieve. Most of these persons will not have developed an understanding of teaching pedagogy necessary for a competent teacher.
Rural teacher shortages in a sample of several states:
- Texas has been hiring 55% of its rural area teacher positions filled with unqualified or underqualified hires.
- California continues to have many hundreds of non-credentialed teachers. Nine counties in the rural areas of California are facing a crisis in obtaining and retaining qualified teachers. As a result, they have been hiring a higher number of underprepared teachers and those who have been assigned to teach outside of their fields of preparation.
- Arizona continues to have approximately 25% of its teacher positions open.
- West Virginia has 59 teacher vacancies for every 10,000 students. This is the highest in the U.S.
Do community and technical colleges offer baccalaureate degrees?
The American Association of Community Colleges, in its 2017-2018 report, listed 186 of its association colleges that awarded some 19,000 baccalaureate degrees. Today, 25 states have passed legislation allowing their community and technical colleges to offer baccalaureate degrees.
The following community college baccalaureate degrees in 2023 provide the following statistics on their enrolled students:
- A 32% national increase in public community colleges approved to confer baccalaureate degrees, from 132 in 2021 to 187 in 2023.
- Half of all baccalaureate degree-conferring community colleges in the country are minority-serving institutions. Three-quarters of those are Hispanic-serving institutions.
- Nearly half of community college baccalaureate graduates are students of color, with 24% of graduating CCB students identified as Hispanic/Latino and 13% as Black.
- Nationally, about two-thirds of community college baccalaureate graduates are women.
- California and Texas also experienced significant growth, with 32 community colleges in California and 21 in Texas now conferring degrees.
- Florida has led the way with 27 of their community colleges offering baccalaureate degrees in educational areas most in need (Bragg, 2024),
Summary
Rural schools throughout the United States have been hardest hit by the decade-long teacher shortages. While these schools have a higher graduation rate than urban, inner-city and suburban school districts, there is a major problem of finding college programs within close proximity to attend.
Doesn’t it seem almost past time for K12 school boards and community and technical college trustees to merge their efforts to get legislation passed? Such a merger and legislation would allow these colleges to offer the necessary baccalaureate degrees in the areas of education most in need.
References
Bragg, D. (2024, May 6). Watch Them Grow: The Evolution of Community College Baccalaureate Degrees. CCBA & Bragg & Associates. Retrieved February 8, 2025, at https://www.bing.com/search?q=Watch+Them+Grow%3A+The+Evolution+of+Community+College+Baccalaureate+Degrees.&cvid
Education Insights (2024, April 8). Teacher Shortages in the US.: Challenges, solutions & Initiatives in 2024. Teachers of Tomorrow. Retrieved September 30, 2024 at https://www.teachersoftomorrow.org/blog/insights/teachers-shortages-in-the-us/
Dembicki, M. (2023, Nov. 1). Two-thirds of two-year grads do not borrow. Community College Daily. Retrieved February 19, 2024, at Two-thirds of two-year grads do not borrow – Community College Daily (ccdaily.com)
Dobo, N. (2024, December 5). What happens to students when rural colleges cut programs and majors? The Hechinger Report. Retrieved December 8, 2024, at What happens to students when rural colleges cut programs and majors
Mahowald, C. ( 2022). Equality vs. Equity in Education: What is the Difference and Why Does It Matter? Parent Powered. Retrieved January 27, 2004 atUnderstand Equality vs. Equity in Education – ParentPowered®
National University (2023, September 20). Equity in Education: Understanding Equity in the Classroom. Retrieved October 2, 2024, at Equality vs Equity in education national university – Search (bing.com)
Patte Barth (2016, January 7). Educational Equity – What does it mean? How do we know when we reach it? Center for Public Education, an initiative of the National School Boards Association. Retrieved September 26, 2024, at https://www.nsba.org/-/media/NSBA/File/cpe-educational-equity-research-brief
