Low salaries, unruly students and lack of support from administrators and parents are among the symptoms of the malady diminishing the ranks of America’s new teachers. Some 50 percent of those new teachers, in fact, are lost within the first five years in our classrooms. Swelling retirement numbers among our aging “boomer” teachers compound the shortages.

School boards across the nation are using strong medicine to combat the shortage crisis. Signing bonuses, salary advances and housing perks now lure new teachers as if they were NBA prospects. Districts that traditionally hired graduates from local colleges and universities are diving into the talent pools from other states – even other countries – to fill positions.

Are teachers as scarce in Oregon as reports indicate they are in other states? The answer is no, and yes.

David Myton, executive director of Oregon’s Teacher Standards and Practices Commission (TSPC), says there is an adequate supply of teachers in the state. Records indicate that, out of 70,000 licensed teachers in Oregon, about 36,000 are employed in public and private schools and some 5,000 work as substitute teachers. Oregon colleges and universities recommend about 1,500 teachers each year for initial licensure, and about the same number from out of state annually earn initial licenses.

Despite having adequate numbers of teachers, there are pockets of shortages in our schools. TSPC adopted a shortage list that includes special education teachers and teachers of advanced mathematics, physical science, technology, Spanish, chemistry and physics. Also in short supply are school counselors and psychologists, speech pathologists and administrators. Myton notes that the current shortage of substitutes reflects the high demand for teachers.

An OSBA survey of Oregon’s school human resource directors in February, 2001, shows the same pattern of shortages, with special education topping the list statewide. Coming in second are secondary administrators and specialists (music, ESL, foreign language, technology). Advanced math and science teachers are especially scarce in rural areas.

Geography comes into play in two different ways when it comes to teacher shortages in Oregon. Small districts, often located in geographically remote areas of the state, sometimes find it hard to hire fully licensed and endorsed staff in all of the disciplines.

“Whatever our neighboring states are doing affects us, too,” Myton says. Because Oregon has drawn nearly half of its new teachers from out of state in recent years, when districts in California, Nevada and Arizona are scrambling for new teachers, Oregon schools must scramble, too.