The mood about Kwiyagat Community Academy is upbeat though there are challenges finding licensed teachers in this remote corner of Colorado
teacher shortage
Posted inEducation
A Colorado school cut teachers in anticipation of an enrollment drop. Then nearly 100 extra kids showed up.
Colorado Springs School District 11 officials asking remaining teachers at Jenkins Middle School to take on bigger workload
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Zornio: It’s not a teacher shortage, it’s a respect and salary shortage
Last year, a survey by the Colorado Education Association found that 40% of licensed teachers statewide were considering leaving the profession. Among the chief complaints were safety concerns, heavy workloads and low pay. It should come as no surprise, then, that the 2022-23 school year would bring a myriad of headaches for administrators attempting to […]
Posted inOpinion
Jim Morrissey: A rare sighting of Colorado’s endangered rural teacher
More cartoons from The Colorado Sun.
Posted inColoradans, Education, News
Rural Colorado schools, unable to recruit out-of-town teachers, are trying to get locals into classrooms
The question of how to draw more teachers into a profession defined by high stress and low pay has become increasingly difficult for administrators like Dave Slothower to answer over the past two years. “This is important work,” said Slothower, superintendent of Calhan School District east of Colorado Springs. “I don’t think anybody would disagree […]
Posted inOpinion, Opinion Columns
Opinion: For students to flourish, teachers also must flourish
A good education is one of the keys to success in the 21st Century economy. But Colorado kids aren’t getting a fair shot at the education they deserve because far too many of our schools are dealing with a crippling teacher shortage. Schools are taking unscheduled days off, moving to virtual learning, and in some […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Education, News
Down 12 teachers, an Alamosa school drafted everyone they could to teach — including the principal
With 12 Ortega Middle School teachers scheduled to be out Friday, administrators of the Alamosa School District suddenly had to weigh their last-resort option: closing school. Assistant Superintendent Luis Murillo and his team “briefly” considered the idea, but instead scrambled to find staff to help cover classrooms, drafting Alamosa Online School employees — including the […]
Posted inEducation, News
More than half of aspiring Colorado elementary teachers fail their licensure exam on the first try. Many don’t try again.
More than half of prospective elementary teachers in Colorado fail their licensure exams on the first try, and of those who fail, 40% don’t try again, according to new data from the National Council on Teacher Quality. Only 46% of state elementary teacher candidates pass their exam on the first try, similar to the national […]
Posted inColoradans, COVID, Education, News
Colorado’s teacher shortage may worsen coming out of the pandemic. Could $13M stop the trend?
Karen Gonzalez Rivas shows up to school each day to teach in some of the same classrooms where her fifth grade self learned how to master words and numbers. In a way, she’s returned to where some of the seeds of her nascent career in education were first planted. Gonzalez Rivas, who was brought to […]