THE BIG STORY Sunday, August 6, 2017 | magicvalley.com | SECTION E
DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS
Dance instructor Jazlyn Nielsen leads a class June 23. Born and raised in Twin Falls, Nielsen will be a first-year teacher of music at Pillar Falls Elementary School this fall.
‘We’re headed toward
A CRISIS’ South-central Idaho schools try aggressive tactics to combat teacher shortage
JULIE WOOTTON
jwootton@magicvalley.com
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WIN FALLS — Ross Parsons is surprised more people don’t go into teaching. But it wasn’t his original plan, either. Parsons’ first career was a river ranger for the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. This fall, he’ll teach sixth-grade language arts and social studies at Ernest Hemingway STEAM School in Ketchum — the school he attended as a child. Parsons has friends who are hardworking, intelligent and personable and get along well with children, he said, but “teaching was just never on their radar, unfortunately.” That factor may contribute to Idaho’s statewide teacher shortage. Desperate for candidates, many south-central Idaho school districts are recruiting more aggressively. And the struggle is more pronounced in rural towns, which have to compete with larger school districts on pay and community amenities. Shoshone School District superintendent Rob Waite — a superintendent for 17 years in Oregon and Idaho — remembers when it was easy to find teachers. Years ago, when he advertised in a local newspaper he’d receive up to 100 applicants for a single elementary school teaching job. Now, Waite said, “we’re lucky to get a couple.” Which teaching jobs are hardest to fill in his 500-student district? “At this point,” he said, “they’re all pretty challenging.” To put enough teachers into classrooms, school districts are hiring more applicants who don’t yet have teaching certification. Some teaching jobs — such as in special education, math and science — have been a struggle to fill for years. Now that extends to mainstream jobs such as elementary schoolteachers. “The trend for the last few years has been across the board,” said Dale Layne, Jerome School District superintendent. “Even trying to find elementary teachers now is very difficult.” Waite says the teaching environment has improved across Idaho. And he likes the career ladder law, which took effect in 2015 to boost pay over five years to help attract and retain teachers. Nonetheless, “I think we’re headed toward a crisis,” he said. “People don’t realize how hard it is to attract teachers these days.” Declo High School principal Roland Bott said teaching has been demonized for a long time. “I think that has to change. I think it’s a wonderful profession.” But without a change in mindset, he said, “our young, bright children aren’t going to go into the profession and there will be no one to fill the jobs.” Melyssa Ferro, Idaho’s 2016 teacher of the year, is a member of the state’s teacher pipeline workgroup, which is looking into the teacher shortage and drafting possible solutions. The workgroup met in January before splitting into smaller groups covering topics such as certification, recruitment and retention, which all met this spring.
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PAT SUTPHIN, TIMES-NEWS
Senior American government teacher Justin Pehrson signs his contract for the upcoming school year June 14 at Canyon Ridge High School in Twin Falls. “We came back together in early June to share the individual solutions we’re working on,” Ferro said. The plan is to submit recommendations to the Idaho State Board of Education this fall. One focus is changing the narrative from punitive assessment of teachers to how to support them, said Ferro, going into her 18th year as a middle school science teacher in Caldwell. She’d like to see an option where teachers can access money for professional training and decide which opportunities would be most beneficial. “That’s making sure the teachers have a voice in their professional development,” she said. Ferro also wants to see a push to keep experienced teachers in classrooms. The education system has a bizarre system of promotion, she said, because people with more experience are often pulled away from classrooms and into administrative positions. Please see CRISIS, Page E3
INSIDE: Meet 10 newly hired educators in south-central Idaho school districts, E2-3
BIG STORY
E2 | Sunday, August 6, 2017
Times-News
10 new educators Who will be at the front of your child’s classroom this fall? Meet 10 newly hired educators in south-central Idaho school districts.
Jazlyn Nielsen usic teacher, Pillar Falls M Elementary School, Twin Falls Jazlyn Nielsen may be a firstyear teacher, but there’s one hurdle she won’t have to overcome: getting to know the community. Nielsen — who will teach music at Pillar Falls Elementary School — was born and raised in Twin Falls. “My family has been here for over 30 years,” she said. Her last name may sound familiar if you’re plugged into the dance scene. Her family owns Nielsen School of Dance. This summer, she’s teaching a couple of dance camps — one for 9- to 13-year-olds and several princess-themed ones for younger children. “My whole life I’ve been a dancer and into music,” Nielsen said. She’ll incorporate dance into her Pillar Falls music classes. By mid-June she had already gotten the keys to her new classroom and had been there a couple of times. During her last year of college at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, Nielsen applied for several teaching jobs in Twin Falls and one in Kimberly. “I had some communication with Kimberly, but most of those were in Twin Falls,” she said. “I was focused on coming back DREW NASH PHOTOS, TIMES-NEWS here,” Nielsen said. “I really loved ‘My whole life I’ve been a dancer and into music,’ dance instructor Jazlyn growing up being around the Twin Nielsen says. Falls School District.”
Riley Christensen hemistry teacher, C Burley High School Though Riley Christensen decided not to be a dentist, all those college chemistry classes paid off. He’s moving away from Rexburg and returning to his alma mater, Burley High, as a first-year chemistry teacher this fall. “My end goal was always to end up back in Burley,” Christensen said. He loves the area. The 2008 Burley High alumnus graduated from Brigham Young University-Idaho with a bachelor’s degree in exercise physiology. Christensen realized he didn’t want to be a dentist just before signing up for a test he had needed to get into dental school. Not sure what to do, he took a job as an administrative assistant at
a Driggs hospital, where he currently works. He wanted to get a sense of many aspects of health care but realized it isn’t something he wants to pursue. The new plan: Be a teacher. Christensen isn’t going into the profession blindly; his wife is a fourth-grade teacher in Idaho Falls. She’ll teach at White Pine Elementary School in Burley this fall. His plan was to earn his teaching certification over the next year while working at the hospital, but someone told him about a chemistry teaching job opening up at Burley High. He’s working on gaining certification this year through the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence. —Julie Wootton
Lea Stone Title I teacher, Kimberly For longtime educator Lea Stone, summer means working at the family fruit orchard and rehabilitating orphaned wildlife. Stone, an educator for at least 24 years, describes herself as an outdoor person. Her family owns River’s Edge Orchard, a small business in the Snake River Canyon in Buhl. “Because we live on the river, we do a lot of camping and river sports,” she said. Stone also volunteers for an organization called Animals in Distress Association. She takes in orphaned animals — such as raccoons and squirrels — raises them and releases them back into the wild. And she loves spending time with her grandchildren, who live in Twin Falls and Boise. Stone is preparing to start a new job as a Title I teacher in the Kimberly School District, where a few of her friends have taken jobs. “They’ve said nothing but great things about working in Kimberly,” she said. Stone was looking for a job as a reading specialist or intervention teacher. She applied for an intervention specialist job last spring in Twin Falls but didn’t get it. In mid-June, she applied for the
Kimberly job, interviewed within a week and was offered the job the same day. Most recently, Stone was a first-grade teacher in Twin Falls. She wanted to go back to classroom teaching to gain experience with Common Core Standards. She has master’s degrees in literacy and educational leadership, both from Boise State University. Stone started her career as a kindergarten and first-grade teacher in California for a few years. She moved to Idaho in 1994, where she worked in Gooding for eight years, Jerome for five years and Twin Falls for three years. She also worked as an educational consultant for major book publisher McGraw-Hill. During her time in classrooms, Stone has taught mostly kindergartners through second-graders. She has also been a reading specialist and instructional coach. And she taught professional development classes for teachers through Northwest Nazarene University. “I’ve got a pretty wide array of experience,” she said. “When you’re an educator, everybody usually thinks it’s just teaching, but there are so many areas you can specialize in and move into.” —Julie Wootton
Dance instructor Jazlyn Nielsen gives direction during one of her classes June 23 in Twin Falls. As a child, she attended I.B. Perrine Elementary, Morningside Elementary, Vera C. O’Leary Junior High and Twin Falls High. Nielsen attended Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake, Wash., where she received a scholarship to play basketball. She served in student government her second year and earned an associate degree in general studies. After that, “I took a year off and moved back to Twin Falls,” she said. She had decided to become a teacher but needed more money for college. Nielsen was a substitute teacher for a year in the Twin Falls district and enjoyed it. “I really saw how
committed the teachers were and the staff.” Then at BYU she earned a bachelor’s degree in education. Nielsen started filling out job applications in late February to early March — that’s normal now but would have been unusual a decade ago. She started interviewing for positions in mid-April, including five elementary positions in the Twin Falls district. Special classes such as music are an outlet for children and a chance to relieve stress, she said. Plus, “I really thought it would be a great way to impact a lot of students in this community.” —Julie Wootton
Ryan Ellsworth rincipal, South Hills P Middle School, Twin Falls Being a school administrator wasn’t Ryan Ellsworth’s first — or even second — career plan. He was a metal fabricator doing custom work for five years while he was a Boise State University student. Ellsworth “I initially went into college thinking I was going to go into the criminal justice field,” Ellsworth said. He was required to do a practicum and ended up at a school. That changed his vision for the future. The new plan: become an educator. “I quickly decided that it was something I wanted to pursue,” Ellsworth said. But he still does a lot of woodworking and builds custom furniture as a side gig. He earned his bachelor’s degree in education from BSU and, later, a master’s degree and leadership certification from Northwest Nazarene University. Ellsworth was a third-grade teacher in Fruitland for a year before going to his hometown of Nyssa, Ore., for four years to teach fourth grade. He went to
DREW NASH, TIMES-NEWS
Principal Ryan Ellsworth checks on construction July 6 at South Hills Middle School in Twin Falls. Jerome because he was interested in the opportunity to become a vice principal. He was in Jerome for eight years — most recently, as Jerome Middle School principal. This summer, Ellsworth is preparing to start as principal of South Hills Middle School in Twin Falls, a new school that opens in August. It’s one of three new schools paid for by a nearly $74 million bond issue voters approved in 2014. This is the only job Ellsworth applied for this year. “I thought it would be a great
opportunity for me to use my skills to open up a new school,” he said, adding it will be challenging and difficult. Working in Twin Falls won’t change his daily commute much; he lives in Jerome County near the Snake River Canyon. But others in education are making desired moves. “There’s so many openings right now,” Ellsworth said, “that people who are wanting to move to get closer to home, family or relatives are able to do that.” —Julie Wootton
Cynthia Gonzales S chool counselor, Jerome Middle School Beyond her 13 years of teaching, Cynthia Gonzales has even more experience working with youth — at Idaho Youth Ranch’s residential facility for teens in Rupert. “There’s a lot of differGonzales ent counseling techniques involved there,” she said. After more than a decade in Oregon and Idaho classrooms, Gonzales wanted to make the switch to school counselor. “My heart was really in that counseling area,” she said, and in building relationships with
children. Gonzales is working on her master’s degree in counseling through Northwest Nazarene University. She already has a bachelor’s degree in social sciences from Lewis-Clark State College and a secondary education certification. Most recently, Gonzales taught eighth-grade language arts at Gooding Middle School for five years. Before that, she taught eighth- through 12th-grade social studies and language arts for eight years in Powers, Ore. In early April — shortly after spring break — Gonzales started looking for counseling jobs in the Magic Valley and applied for three: in the Jerome, Valley (Hazelton) and Wendell school districts. The day after she applied in
Jerome, she received a call from the principal, who wanted more information. She interviewed a couple of weeks later. “I was pleased with the people I interviewed with,” Gonzales said. “I felt a lot of confidence when I spoke with the principal.” Shortly after she accepted the Jerome job, she received calls from the Valley and Wendell districts offering interviews. Gonzales’ husband — who also worked in the Gooding School District — took a teaching job in Hansen and will coach boys basketball and junior varsity football. The couple and their two children enjoy camping and took a cruise this summer to Alaska. And you can often find Gonzales reading a book. —Julie Wootton M 1
BIG STORY
Times-News
Sunday, August 6, 2017 | E3
BY THE NUMBERS Kimball Hardman Here’s a look at the job openings school districts were trying to fill this summer for certified positions, such as teachers and school counselors:
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Job openings in the Twin Falls School District, as of June 29.
45
Applicants this spring for a single fourth-grade teaching job in the Twin Falls district.
10
Job openings in the Jerome School District, as of June 16. That includes a third-grade teacher at Horizon Elementary, plus English, math interventionist, social studies, science, English as a second language and elective teachers at Jerome Middle and Jerome High schools.
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Applicants for a second-grade teaching job in Jerome, posted in May. One of those applicants wasn’t certified; the other was hired.
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Applicants for a music teacher job in Jerome, posted in March. Two weren’t certified, and one didn’t want to move to Jerome.
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Job openings in the Blaine County School District, as of June 22.
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14
Applicants for a third-grade teaching job in Jerome, posted in April. Five accepted other jobs, three weren’t certified, one transferred within the school district and four weren’t interested.
14
Job openings in the Cassia County School District, as of June 23. Nine of those positions were for elementary school teachers; four for high school math, science and automated manufacturing teachers; and one for a kindergarten through 12th-grade school counselor in Oakley.
Qualified applicant for a science teaching job at Burley Junior High School. A former school paraprofessional on an alternate route to certification was hired.
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Applicants for an English/history teaching job at Burley Junior High School. Only two returned phone calls, and both were interviewed. The teacher who was hired had let her teaching certificate lapse, but the state is giving her an interim three-year certificate.
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Applicant for a special education teaching job at Burley Junior High.
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Applicants for a special education teaching job at Cassia High School. Only four were qualified, and the position was filled by using an in-school district transfer.
Crisis From E1
‘It’s just difficult’
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The shortage can be particularly tough in small towns like Declo. At Declo High, there isn’t much teacher turnover. When someone leaves, it’s usually a retirement. But when a job does open, it’s very difficult to fill. For example, a math teacher retired this spring. The school district knew about it well in advance, and the position was advertised in January. The district made an offer in March. Ultimately, Bott said, the woman who accepted the job backed out for personal reasons. Now the job has been filled by a college student who will do her student teaching at the same time. Four years ago, Declo High’s science teacher retired. The school advertises the job every year but hasn’t found anyone to
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Job openings in the Shoshone School District, as of June 20. Both are for teachers at Shoshone Middle School.
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Job openings at Mountain View Elementary School in Burley. There was only one qualified applicant in total for the three positions. The school principal tracked down a second qualified applicant to hire and hired a third who’s on an alternate route to certification.
fill it. The “retiree” comes back to teach “or we wouldn’t have a science teacher,” Bott said. “It’s just difficult.” In Twin Falls, it’s much easier to fill teaching jobs, but even there applicant numbers started dropping off this summer. The number of applicants for each teaching job ranged from the high 30s to low 50s in March and April. But this summer, a first-grade teaching job received 11 applicants; a high school math job, after it was posted for two weeks, had received one applicant. An encouraging trend: The district is seeing more experienced teachers applying for jobs, including some with 30-plus years of experience. Only about a dozen of the 47 teachers hired by mid-June were new or had just one year’s experience. As of mid-June, the school Please see CRISIS, Page E4
E arth science teacher, Jerome High School
Kimball Hardman is a certified secondary science teacher — a notoriously hard-to-fill position for local school districts. This fall, he’ll be a first-year freshman Earth science teacher at Jerome High. Hardman The 2012 Twin Falls High School alumnus grad-
uated from Idaho State University in May with degrees in biology teacher education and secondary education. He spent five months doing pre-student teaching at Franklin Middle School in Pocatello, and five months student teaching at Canyon Ridge High School in Twin Falls. Hardman started looking for jobs in April. His schedule was “so jam-packed with student teaching,” he said, but he realized: “I got to get focused now on what’s next.” During the job search, he
focused on the Magic Valley and applied for at least seven jobs. He interviewed for most of them. Hardman, a track and decathlon athlete at ISU, wasn’t just looking for a science teaching job. He wanted to work at a school with a strong track program with the potential to become a coach once he is settled in. Hardman enjoys woodworking and building in his spare time. “I’m kind of a creative person.” —Julie Wootton
Ross Parsons S ixth-grade English language arts and social studies teacher, Ernest Hemingway STEAM School, Ketchum Once a new school year starts, Ross Parsons will likely see a few of his former elementary teachers in Ketchum. This time, he’ll be a co-worker. Parsons grew up in the Wood River Valley and went to Ernest Parsons Hemingway STEAM School. He first considered becoming a teacher five to 10 years ago but pursued a natural resources career instead. Now, Parsons is preparing to teach in his hometown. “What
better place to do it than where I grew up?” he said. The Hemingway school is just a mile from Parsons’ childhood home. A 2008 Wood River High School alumnus, Parsons earned bachelor’s degrees in geography and Spanish from the University of Denver and a master’s degree in natural resources from the University of Idaho. “Teaching was always in the back of my mind,” he said. Parsons has spent a couple of years working as a river ranger for the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management. “More and more, that became less of a viable option” for a longterm career, he said. But Parsons enjoys rivers and outdoor activities such as fishing, rafting and
duck hunting. “Idaho arguably has one of the best areas for free-flowing rivers,” he said. Parsons taught for a year at UI’s McCall Outdoor Science School as part of his master’s degree program. He also has been a substitute teacher and completed the American Board for Certification of Teacher Excellence’s online certification program about 1 1/2 years ago. This spring, Parsons applied for elementary teaching jobs in McCall but wasn’t invited to interview. He applied for two jobs at Hemingway — a sixth-grade math/science position and the job for which he was hired. —Julie Wootton
Keelie Campbell Director of programs, Kimberly School District Keelie Campbell was approached by school districts when she wasn’t actively seeking a job. That resulted in her last two moves — to Vera C. O’Leary Middle School in Twin Falls last Campbell school year and to a new administrative job she started this summer in the Kimberly School District. Campbell finished her education specialist in executive educational leadership certification in May through Boise State University. Kimberly district officials asked if she’d be interested in a position they were creating: di-
rector of programs. It includes overseeing special education, human resources and federal programs. “It’s the type of position I had been preparing for through that (BSU) degree,” Campbell said. “It was just kind of a logical next step in my career.” It’s the first time Campbell has worked for the Kimberly district. So how did its leaders know her? “I think it’s just kind of a network that develops throughout the Magic Valley as you work or connect with people,” she said. Campbell still had to apply and interview. Plus, she interviewed for the Twin Falls School District’s director of operations job. Campbell started her career in Wendell, where she taught middle school math for 15 years. She was also a coach and athletic director. She stayed put in Wendell
while raising her children. Then she and her family moved to the Boise area in 2011. Campbell took a job for a year with the Idaho State Board of Education — specifically, the public charter school commission. They planned to settle in the Treasure Valley, but her husband was appointed as a Twin Falls County magistrate judge in 2012 and they moved back to the Magic Valley. Campbell worked in the Jerome School District for three years as federal programs director and grant writer, interim elementary school principal and high school principal. Last school year, she was O’Leary’s principal. Campbell has been involved with hiring teachers in three districts. “It’s definitely a challenge to get applicants, and especially, qualified applicants.” —Julie Wootton
Juan Rodriguez Athletic director, head boys basketball coach and physical education teacher, Oakley High School Juan Rodriguez was looking for an extremely specific kind of job: one where he could be a school athletic director, coach and teacher, all at once. He found that at Oakley High — the only place he applied. Rodriguez Although Rodriguez has bachelor’s and master’s degrees, he doesn’t have P.E. teaching certification yet. “I was really worried about that,” he said, and he was surprised when the school was willing to work with him.
He and his family live in Inkom, a small town just outside Pocatello, where they’ve been for less than a year. Rodriguez loves hunting and fishing, and “Oakley is really known for that too,” he said. “That made it a little bit easier.” His wife owns a formalwear business in Pocatello called Trendy & True. She plans to either sell the business or have a store manager run it when they move to Oakley. She’s also a freelance graphic designer and does a lot of work for a Utah-based company. Rodriguez grew up in Moreland — a Bingham County town with fewer than 1,500 residents — so moving to another small town won’t be a shock. “The small-town feel,” he said,
“I’m used to it, I guess.” Rodriguez has coached at much larger schools, such as North Fremont High School and Century High School in Pocatello. But he wanted a small-school experience for his children, ages 3, 5 and 6. Rodriguez graduated from Snake River High School in Blackfoot in 2004, earned a social work degree from Brigham Young University-Idaho and attended Concordia University Irvine for his master’s degree in coaching and athletic administration. He spent the past six years as the Indian education coordinator for the Blackfoot School District, and he was Shoshone-Bannock Jr./Sr. High School’s athletic director the past two years. —Julie Wootton
David Palmer Teacher (sixth-grade reading and study skills) and activities director, South Hills Middle School, Twin Falls A social work job opportunity for David Palmer’s wife prompted the couple to move to Idaho sight unseen in 2014. “Her job was downsized at the hospital she worked at,” Palmer said. “We decided we were Palmer ready for an adventure.” They figured they could try living in Idaho for a year or two. If it didn’t work out, Palmer said, “we could move on with very little loss.” Since then, they’ve put down roots. “It’s been good to us,” he said. They bought a house and
had their first child, a baby girl, three months ago. Palmer has a Purdue University degree in secondary education, with a social studies and English emphasis. This will be Palmer’s seventh year as a teacher. For two years he was a social studies and English teacher at Filer Middle School. He applied at South Hills in March. “I had a great gig going in Filer,” Palmer said. “I was very selective, and this was really the only district I applied to work in.” In Filer, he said, it was “really cool to know every student’s name.” But he had worked in a larger school district — Lake Central in northwest Indiana with more than 14,000 students — and missed the opportunities for staff and students in a larger district. Plus, working at a new school
is appealing. “It’s not every day you get to build everything from the ground up,” Palmer said. “I’m excited to be a part of something new,” he added. “It’s going to be nice to have a new set of responsibilities. I’m looking forward to the AD side of my job as well.” Palmer coached eighth-grade girls basketball in Filer and did some coaching in Indiana, too. He took a break from teaching in Indiana to direct a YMCA branch for about a year. “I have a sports administration background, but just not necessarily in a school,” he said. Palmer said he took the YMCA position to “open up some doors,” but ultimately, it was his wife’s career that led them on a new adventure. “We knew Indiana wasn’t the place for us.” —Julie Wootton
BIG STORY
E4 | Sunday, August 6, 2017
Times-News
PAT SUTPHIN PHOTOS, TIMES-NEWS
Regina Thomason, facing at left, and Holly Dickinson, facing at right, sign their contracts for the upcoming school year June 14 at Canyon Ridge High School.
Crisis From E3
district had 33 positions still open for certified employees such as teachers, administrators and counselors. Numbers were similar to the same time last year, human resources director Shannon Swafford said. But with approval to hire four more elementary schoolteachers to help lower class sizes and cope with enrollment growth, she said, “we might just have a few more to fill.” The Jerome district had hired 24 teachers for next school year by mid-June and had nine jobs left to fill. The Shoshone district had only two job openings as of mid-June, both at the middle school. That’s similar to previous years, but Waite wasn’t sanguine. “They’ve been open for more than a month and we’re this year struggling for teachers on the secondary level,” he said. Hiring for classified employees, such as custodians, cafeteria workers and paraprofessionals, is harder to pin down across south-central Idaho. “The last few years, it has just been a continual hiring process year-round,” Swafford said. Especially for paraprofessionals. Often, paraprofessional resignations don’t come in until the fall, she said, because employees tend to find new jobs over the summer. This fall she expects stiff competition in Twin Falls for employees, with new companies arriving and the unemployment rate hovering around 3 percent.
‘Natural competition’
The teacher shortage means there’s more competition among school districts — especially within the Magic Valley — to find the most qualified candidates and ensure they’ll accept an offer. By far the majority of the Twin Falls School District’s new teachers are coming from within the valley. Only a few are from outside Idaho. “It’s almost like there’s a natural competition built into the valley,” Swafford said. This spring, teachers union negotiations included a focus on putting money into the state career ladder to be competitive — especially, on the upper end for veteran teachers, district spokeswoman Eva Craner said. For example, a teacher with 13 or more years of experience — who has a master’s degree or bachelor’s degree plus 36 additional college credits — made $37,689 last school year. Plus, the district started advertising jobs in January — several months earlier than usual — for the upcoming school year. Even without knowing yet who might leave, district leaders knew they’d have to staff South Hills Middle School, which opens this month. Big factors for applicants deciding where to work are convenience and location. “Oftentimes, it will come down to where an individual lives,” Layne said. The Jerome district — and others with a traditional five-day
Teacher contracts wait to be signed June 14 in Twin Falls.
Shannon Swafford, human resources director for the Twin Falls School District, goes over contracts for teachers to sign June 14.
“We wanted to be really careful to not start handing out bonuses for hardto-fill positions like science or special education. It devalues every other educator across the state and creates a hostile work environment.” Melyssa Ferro, Idaho’s 2016 teacher of the year and a member of the state’s teacher pipeline workgroup school week — face competition with local districts such as Gooding, Wendell, Hagerman, Bliss and Valley that are on a four-day week. “That’s attractive to some folks,” Layne said. Another big competitor: the Boise School District, which pays more and tends to hire later, Layne said. “Even though we’re at nine openings, we’re always concerned when they start hiring that direction because we sometimes lose folks to the Treasure Valley,” he said. The Boise area is attractive to younger teachers, in particular, because there’s a larger population base and more to do.
‘Try to be aggressive’
In Twin Falls, district officials are working with Idaho universities and Western Governors University — even a university in Kansas — to attract student teachers to Twin Falls. “We’re trying to get them in as student teachers,” Craner said. Those college students tend to apply for jobs later. Last school year, the district organized a tour for Idaho State University education students before they signed up for student teaching. They offered tours of several Twin Falls schools, answered questions and got feedback from the students about what they’re looking for in potential jobs. The district plans to hold the event again this fall. Aware of upcoming retirements and preparing to add positions, the Jerome district got a head start on hiring in March — and received more high-quality applications than it did later in the season. “Now we’re at the point where
Regina Thomason, a first-grade teacher at Harrison Elementary School, signs her contract for the upcoming school year June 14. there’s not a lot of applicants for some of the new positions,” Layne said. In Shoshone, there’s a relatively new partnership with Eastern Oregon University’s teaching preparation satellite program in Ontario, Ore., just across the state border. Many Idaho students attend the Oregon school. Waite visits the school and encourages students to do their student teaching in Shoshone, hoping they’ll stay once they graduate from college. The recruiting system he advocates: Making a personal connection and letting students know “they’ll be treated right and have a good experience.” And it worked. For the upcoming school year, the Shoshone district hired three recent Eastern Oregon graduates as first-year elementary schoolteachers. Last year, it hired two. Another piece of the recruiting puzzle in Shoshone is selling the district’s and town’s positives, Waite said, including pay above the state’s salary schedule for some teachers and Shoshone’s central location near larger cities. Shoshone district officials don’t attend job fairs anymore to recruit students. They just weren’t fruitful. “We’ve given up on some of our traditional means,” Waite said. At a multistate job fair in Spokane, Wash., for example, “we
can’t even get people to talk with ‘Grow your own’ us,” he said. “We sit there all day So what should Idaho do? and they’ll be talking with the bigRural school districts — where the teacher shortage is particuger towns.” The new approach: “We try to be larly acute — should grow their aggressive and form partnerships.” own, Ferro said. Look around, see who’s there, and turn them into teachers. That is, if paraprofes‘Certified people sionals or other people already aren’t out there’ working in schools show potential, Nearby universities — such as provide incentives for them to gain ISU and Boise State University — teaching certification. aren’t putting out enough teachBut it’s important to the state’s ing graduates to fill the need across workgroup not to shortchange the state, Layne said. So Jerome is certification standards, Ferro said. hiring more candidates on an alter- “Educators have to be certified.” nate route to certification. To boost rural recruitment, the “We’re seeing a lot more of those group has also talked about new hires,” Layne said. “The certified initiatives modeled around federal people aren’t out there.” offerings such as partial student School boards declare an “area loan forgiveness for agreeing to of need” if they can’t find a certi- work in a low-income community. fied teacher. It allows them to hire “We wanted to be really careful an unlicensed educator. to not start handing out bonuses One common option for unli- for hard-to-fill positions like scicensed teachers is to take online ence or special education,” Ferro classes through the American said. “It devalues every other edBoard for Certification of Teacher ucator across the state and creates Excellence. The nonprofit, es- a hostile work environment.” tablished by a U.S. Department Back in Blaine County, Parsons of Education grant, helps people was a substitute teacher. It was a who already have a bachelor’s de- chance to see if he liked working gree and want to change careers. at a school. Students have up to one year to He did. He completed an altercomplete the self-paced online nate route to certification and got program, and they must pass tests his first teaching job in Ketchum. in classroom pedagogy and conNow he’s preparing for the tent before earning an interim li- school year and hoping to make cense. Plus, they receive help from a mark on the next generation of a mentor teacher. students in his hometown.
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