Some shortages are especially dire in the state’s rural counties. Nine of the state’s rural counties are teacher education deserts, having struggled to recruit teachers, concluded a recent report by the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools. One of the problems identified in the report is the lack of higher education options in those counties.
The UCLA report suggests allowing community colleges to play a larger role in preparing teachers. That could mean letting community colleges offer credentialing programs for students who already have a bachelor’s degree. It could also include letting the community colleges offer bachelor’s degrees in education, or at least parts of those degrees, said Kai Mathews, project director for the UCLA center that wrote the report.
“We’re in a teacher shortage. We need as many systems and supports and programs as possible to get students engaged into this profession,” Mathews added.