Intrepid journalist blows the cover on the teacher shortage!

Ah, this article is like an old friend. You see, there are really only three things that journalists like to write about teachers. One and two have to do with things you might see on a "ripped from the headlines" episode of Law & Order: Make People Paranoid Unit, often involving some misunderstanding of how the internet works. Thankfully, the author of this article focuses on number three: the famous teacher shortage.

You see, every year someone looks around and notices that there aren't really enough teachers in certain important subject areas, typically math, science and special ed. The reasons are trotted out one after another, like the standard parts of a Greek comedy. Low pay. Red tape. Lack of autonomy. Too much autonomy. And so on. But not until the end of the article does the author approach the real issue:

"Shortages have long been noted in special education, math, science and educational assistant positions in our state. As the state survey noted, it's a deep-rooted – and complex – issue to tackle. '[N]o single action will magically correct the balance of supply versus demand.'"

And then the article ends. Isn't the next logical step to examine the actions that could be taken? That's really what's important here. Too many people are being accepted into teaching programs where they learn to be, broadly, English or Social Studies teachers. I know I was. Maybe if there was an actual dialogue in the press about how the problem can be fixed, some progress could be made.

That sound you just heard was me stepping down from my soap box.