Yes, South Carolina, you beat our legislators in basketball. Yes, South Carolina, you seem to have a winning strategy for teacher recruitment. But North Carolina still has a chance to elevate its game.
I say this with some hesitation. It takes commitment and foresight to develop a strong teacher recruitment plan. And, I am bad with sports analogies. But here goes.
“Failure does not come from losing, but from not trying.”
–Larry Brown
Take a look at this screen shot:
This is the South Carolina Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, & Advancement (CERRA). Under one roof it has programs that work together, such as the Teacher Cadet program for high school students and the college scholarship program, Teaching Fellows. And putting them together creates a pipeline. CERRA reports that in the latest year of Teaching Fellows, seven of 10 of the Fellows were exposed to teaching as a profession by being Teacher Cadets.
North Carolina is no longer investing in these programs.
In 2011, the North Carolina General Assembly wiped out funding for Teacher Cadets and began to shut down the Teaching Fellows program. It was hard to figure this out as a rational policy decision: we have a teacher shortage, the need to begin the pipeline in at least high school is well established through rigorous research,1 and the North Carolina Teaching Fellows Program has been hailed nationally as an exemplar. And indeed, South Carolina followed North Carolina’s playbook for its Teaching Fellows program.
So what else is going on? Well, the North Carolina Teacher Cadet program is run by the North Carolina Foundation for Public School Children, which is associated with the North Carolina Association of Educators. The 2011 session of the General Assembly was a dim year for the NCAE as the new Republican majority flexed its muscles. The Teaching Fellows program also may have been scrapped because of its affiliation. The program was run by the Public School Forum, which always has been a separate think and do policy center, but its success at implementation of reforms under Democratic regimes of the General Assembly may have caused some taint.
This difference in governance approach also may cause a difference in how well the programs relate to each other. Whereas 70 percent of Teaching Fellows were Teacher Cadets in South Carolina, the figure is closer to 25 percent in North Carolina. And it is easy to see how this could happen. With CERRA, Teaching Fellows coordinators and Teacher Cadet instructors have opportunities to meet and work together.
“A key basketball skill is imagery. The best players ‘see’ situations before they happen so they can be prepared.”
–Dr. Jack Ramsay
The program began as the Center for Teacher Recruitment. It was housed at Winthrop University. It ran the Teacher Cadet program, which was developed in South Carolina. The South Carolina Education Improvement Act of 1984 was the catalyst for this reform, providing additional funds through an additional penny sales tax when Governor Riley was in office. Since then, schools in 35 other states have implemented South Carolina’s Teacher Cadet curriculum — including North Carolina.
The center has evolved to CERRA and includes a broader continuum of programs. The State Teacher of the Year serves a one-year residency with CERRA, working with all the programs and serving as an ambassador across the state. CERRA also produces an annual supply and demand survey along with an annual report that describes each of their programs.
This gives all appearances of a well-conceived state plan for teacher recruitment and retention. What do you think, North Carolina?
If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.
The original oversight for CERRA was the Commission on Higher Education — similar to the University of North Carolina Board of Governors. The Commission still retains some oversight, but now there is the Education Oversight Commission, established by the legislature. The EOC sees the recommended budget for CERRA before it goes to the legislature. Winthrop is still the fiscal agent, but CERRA is funded separately by the South Carolina legislature — it is not funded through the University budget.
So here is what South Carolina is considering in its budget as it makes its way through the legislative process:2
- Approximately $5 million for teacher recruitment programs run by CERRA3
- A new program to be operated by CERRA to recruit and retain classroom educators in rural and underserved districts experiencing excessive turnover of classroom teachers4
- Funding for Teaching Fellows, Teacher Cadets, and recruitment of minority teachers – all programs coordinated through CERRA with accountability to the state department and the Education Oversight Commission5
- Periodic evaluation by CERRA of the schools of education that receive Teaching Fellows6
- Detailed data collection and compiling of a supply and demand study7
- A ten year public school teacher needs study (2017-2027)8
North Carolina needs a state plan for teacher recruitment and retention. We need to regain key tools that we’ve had — even if they are reshaped and restructured.
We need to take the best of the NC Teaching Fellows while considering the recommendations included in its final report. We need to include Master’s degree pay for teachers and incentive programs for rural and hard to staff schools. And we need to continue the gems we have in place, like the New Teacher Support Program. It all needs to be appropriately funded. And we need a governance structure that provides coordination, transparency, and accountability. That could be a game changer in North Carolina.
And if we are keeping score, note the expectation set in the draft South Carolina budget:
“The General Assembly remains desirous of raising the average teacher salary in South Carolina through incremental increases over the next few years so as to make such equivalent to the national average teacher salary.”9
Can North Carolina meet or beat that?
“The only difference between a good shot and a bad shot is whether it goes in or not.”
–Charles Barkley
And about the same could be said for programs in the budget — they are either in or out. And if these pieces are not included, we will have to wait that much longer for a state plan for recruiting teachers.
