Rising student debt. Not enough compensation. A lack of qualifications and training.
These are some of the reasons why school districts across the country are scrambling to find qualified teachers, according to Jim Lynett, executive director of the Paso Robles Public Educators. The issues have been exacerbated over time, due to what Lynett describes as a lack of respect for the teaching profession.
“There’s kind of like a lot of things operating at once to make teaching a difficult recruitment goal because the goal is in line with what you want to do and your schools, and so we do have teachers who are not qualified,” Lynett said of the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District.
Data from the California Department of Education for the 2020-21 school year shows that 2.5 percent of teachers in the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District are either not authorized to teach in California, are teaching without a credential, or are teaching in subjects they don’t have credentials for.
To help the district bring in more qualified, credentialed teachers, Lynett said that in the past two years, the union has negotiated a 50 percent raise for teachers and stipends and bonuses for teaching positions that require specialized training, such as special education.
“Administration is really listening. They’ve been very cooperative and collaborative because they know that it’s hard to recruit people,” Lynett said. “There’s a lot of other jobs out there. And we know that there’s people hiring a lot and the unemployment rate is very low.”
A California Commission on Teacher Credentialing report from 2020-21 shows that 30,958 teachers in California were lacking the appropriate credential for the course they were teaching—54 of those misassigned teachers were in SLO County.
This is because school districts like Paso have assigned teachers to teach subjects that they aren’t qualified for in order to fill certain vacancies. Approximately 5.4 percent of Atascadero Unified School District teachers lacked the appropriate credential, according to 2020-21 data from the California Department of Education. In the San Luis Coastal Unified School District, 2.4 percent of teachers didn’t have the appropriate credential.
SLO County Office of Education Superintendent James Brescia told New Times via email that the county works closely with school districts to monitor anything amiss.
“Each county office of education monitors credentials, reports findings to local agencies, and works with the local agencies on corrective action plans,” Brescia wrote.
They compile that information on local school districts in quarterly reports.
According to the most recent quarterly report, from October to December 2022, Paso Robles Joint Unified had seven teachers without the proper credential teaching English language learners and 12 teachers without the appropriate credentials teaching general education subjects like math, history, and English.
“Teachers must have a multiple-subject, single-subject, or special education credential. The statewide teacher shortage has forced some districts to rely on non-fully credentialed teachers,” Brescia said. “Teachers not fully credentialed are working on various emergency-style permits or waivers that are monitored and reported on by each county office of education.”
But these emergency permits aren’t a cure-all, Brescia said. The emergency permits are only valid for a year or less, oftentimes with no options for renewal.
“The goal is for those educators to move toward earning a preliminary credential or entering an intern credential program,” Brescia said.
According to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, new teachers have to first earn a preliminary teaching credential, which lasts for five years and requires applicants to hold a bachelor’s degree. Teachers can then apply for either a specific subject area credential or a clear credential, which indicates that all education and program requirements for the credential have been met.
Most bachelor’s programs nowadays have a teaching credential course embedded in the curriculum, Lynett from the Paso teachers union said. On average, it could take anywhere from a year or more for someone to receive a credential in their subject area.
For Rylee Birdsall, who currently teaches math at San Luis Obispo High School, the process of getting a credential involved a combination of taking classes and student teaching before taking a series of exams known as the California Subject Examinations for Teachers (CSET).
In 2017, Birdsall was working toward getting credentialed in physics. Birdsall explained that each CSET exam attempt costs $100, and she had to take the test six times due to questions pertaining to quantum physics, which isn’t part of the current AP physics curriculum.
“Why are we getting assessed on quantum physics if we’re not even expected to teach it?” she asked. “It would be nice [if] the CSET was more aligned with the subjects that we’re about to teach, not the whole general knowledge of it.”
Each attempt at passing the CSET takes a mental and financial toll on teachers, Birdsall said. The exams are so stressful that she’s had friends call her crying. To ease the financial burden credentialing puts on new teachers, Brescia said that the County Office of Education sets aside around $500,000 annually to upskill employees.
Paso Robles Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Shauna Ames said the district often hires teachers who are in the middle of getting a credential.
“If we are short-staffed or there’s not a big candidacy pool for some teachers, including special education and some secondary like math … there are ways where sometimes you can hire someone that’s in the process of getting their credential,” Ames said.
That’s what happened to Birdsall, who already had her general science credential but was working toward passing her physics CSET while she was teaching physics at San Luis Obispo High School.
Sometimes administrators can fill vacancies for certain electives, like yearbook or theater, Ames said, by having existing teachers apply for another secondary credential.
“We work with the county on every single employee and make sure they’re properly credentialed for their area,” Ames said. “And if there is something they need to have in order to teach that subject, then we will work with the county to get the proper waiver to get them in the proper course to get that finished.”
If there aren’t any teachers to fill a position, Birdsall said that some teachers are asked to teach a subject they haven’t taught in a while because they are already credentialed to teach it.
“When push comes to shove and they don’t have someone to teach a PE section, they’re going to try to pull that [teacher],” Birdsall said. “At the site that I was at, that kind of happened where people were teaching subjects that they hadn’t taught in years, just because there wasn’t anybody to fill that.”
Despite the long hours, the exam fees, and the mental stress brought on by the CSET, Birdsall said that her love for teaching makes the entire process worthwhile.
“I love the kids. I love what I do. I love teaching,” Birdsall said. “I’m so happy where I’m at, but it was a rough two years. There were a lot of things to do, a lot of money spent.” Δ
Contact Staff Writer Shwetha Sundarrajan at shwetha@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Mar 9-19, 2023.