/ Officials in Illinois State University s College of Education (located in DeGarmo Hall, pictured here) hope a new elementary education pipeline program will provide a solution to the state s ongoing teacher shortage.
As Illinois schools continue to deal with a teacher shortage, Illinois State University is working on a program to bring educators to communities across central Illinois for elementary education. ISU is collaborating with five community colleges to make it possible.
The program includes Heartland Community College in Normal, Illinois Central College in East Peoria, Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, Illinois Valley Community College in Oglesby, and Spoon River College in Canton.
Belleville News-Democrat
A
new survey of Illinois school districts shows most are continuing to have trouble filling open teaching positions with qualified teachers and even more are having difficulty hiring substitute teachers.
It’s a problem that has existed in the state for many years and one that experts attribute to a variety of factors, such as low pay and the difficulty in attracting new teachers to work in certain parts of the state.
The survey has been conducted each of the past four years by the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools. Regional superintendents are in charge of supervising schools in the state’s 38 educational regions and operating regional offices of education. They also act as a kind of conduit of information and support between the Illinois State Board of Education and the state’s 853 local school districts.
Report: 77% of superintendents struggle to fill positions
A new survey of Illinois school districts shows most are continuing to have trouble filling open teaching positions with qualified teachers and even more are having difficulty hiring substitute teachers.
It’s a problem that has existed in the state for many years and one that experts attribute to a variety of factors, such as low pay and the difficulty in attracting new teachers to work in certain parts of the state.
The severity of shortages varied by region. In west central Illinois, for example, which includes Sangamon County, 89 percent of the districts responding to the survey reported having a teacher shortage problem, compared to only 55 percent of the districts in northeast Illinois.