Detroit Free Press editorial: Whitmer's budget 'visionary' in addressing teacher shortage

Last edited Sun Feb 13, 2022, 02:14 PM - Edit history (1)

(Detroit Free Press) It’s a problem that’s been growing for more than a generation.

Michigan’s supply of skilled educators has been dwindling. Each year, fewer new teachers graduate from our state’s colleges of education, while the number of retirements and unfilled vacancies grows.

Enter COVID-19 and its related quarantines, learning losses and trauma. What was an important long-term challenge has become an immediate statewide emergency. Schools have been forced to close due to a lack of staff, sending students back home at a time when they most need to be making up lost educational time.

Fortunately, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has stepped in with a solution that has promise to alleviate our state’s educator shortage, both immediately and over the long-term. Her budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year, unveiled this week, offers significant and meaningful incentives for pre-K-12 public employees beginning this fall. The governor has correctly identified that before we can grow our educator workforce, we must retain the experienced educators we have. ..........................(more)

https://www.freep.com/story/opinion/contributors/2022/02/13/whitmer-budget-michigan-teacher-shortage/6754456001/