Missouri aims to increase the quality of teachers in high-poverty and rural school areas through a newly approved plan.
The Missouri Educator Equity plan gained approval from the U.S. Department of Education on Thursday.
According to Missouri data there is a 17.2 percent gap of qualified teachers between schools in affluent areas and schools in high-poverty areas.
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education spent over a year developing the plan with education organizations throughout the state to decrease the gap in teacher quality.
“Our goal through all of this is to put excellent teachers in every single classroom no matter where the school is,” said Paul Katnik Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education assistant commissioner.
Katnik said the plan includes projects the state has been working on for a few years as well as ones it hopes to launch.
Some of the projects outlined in the program include working with universities to provide relevant training and recruitment, increasing teacher preparation programs, and providing incentive to teachers.
“One of the things that’s really strong about it is it touches on a lot of different leverage points,”
Katnik said. “It doesn’t just rely on just one things.”
While the plan was approved, it doesn’t come with any additional funding.
Katnik said the department will look at reallocating some current federal funds, but all options are still on the table.
“What’s challenging about that is you’ve already, kind of, have it earmarked for things that you think are important,” he said.
Katnik said the decision will take some time and additional planning.
“If we want to continue to elevate teachers to the high professional level that the profession deserves we are going to have to start addressing the issue of teacher compensation in our state, so that we’re attracting the best and brightest to the profession and that we keep them in the profession,” Missouri School Board Association Chief of Staff Brent Ghan said.
Ghan said one of the problems is teachers are leaving the profession after their first five years.
Ghan said he thinks it will be beneficial to have a plan enacted at the state level, but others are skeptical on how effective the plan will be.
“I think it’s just the first step, I think time to cheer will come when we actually have quality teachers that are working and continuing to stay in school districts where it’s been hard to keep them in the past,” said Missouri State Teachers Association spokesperson Todd Fuller.
Fuller said teachers need to begin viewing urban school districts as a career rather than a stepping-stone.
“What happens is teachers go to a rural school or a school with a high-poverty student population and they teach for a year or two to get some experience then they go and get a higher paying job in a suburban school or a school that pays more, so students in the rural or high poverty area get new teachers again,” said Ann Jarrett, the teaching and learning director for the Missouri National Education Association.
With teachers playing an important role in a student’s learning the constant turnover can be detrimental to students in those areas.
Jarrett said the pay difference between suburban and urban schools is a major contributor to teachers switching out of high-poverty school districts.
Jarrett said the actions the department and local districts can take are limited by funding issues.
The U.S. Department of Education required all states to submit teacher equity plans. Missouri was one of 16 states to gain federal approval in the first round.