Alabama has a teacher shortage. It has been building for some time, but it is reaching crisis levels now. Alabama tried to get some legislation passed to address their teacher shortage in 2019 dealing with retirement and are thinking pay raises in 2021 – but they need to do something now.
Since 2010 there has been a 51% decline in students entering teacher education programs in Alabama. According to Title II reports – 9,836 students were enrolled in Alabama educator preparation programs in 2010 and in 2016 it had dropped to 5,111.
It will take more than just a teacher raise to get the problem fixed. That is really sharp decline in educator preparation. It will take a concerted effort for teacher recruitment to get this fixed.
