Teacher Supply and Demand in Ohio

The Ohio Education Research Center has just published an interesting report titled "2013 Teacher Supply and Demand in Ohio". Among its findings are:

Retirement rule changes have already resulted in major declines in teacher stocks. On average in Ohio, 6,000 teachers retire each year according to STRS annual reports. It is anticipated that high levels of retirement among teachers and administrators with 35+ years of service will continue. Retirement rates will likely level off and fall after July 2015 reflecting tighter eligibility requirements and less generous benefits. Mid-career teachers and administrators will find themselves “locked into” the system with less attractive retirement options making departures less likely. This is due to substantial pension wealth losses created by leaving the system early, especially if inflation accelerates. If low interest rates continue, further benefit reductions may be necessary.

The supply of new teacher license holders in Ohio varies across grade ranges and subject areas. Over a quarter of all new teachers licensed in Ohio in 2012 were in early childhood or prekindergarten through 3rd grade indicating a disproportionately large supply of early childhood teachers relative to teachers in the 4-12 grade range. Relatively few new teachers are trained in math and science compared to those trained in language arts and social studies.

There is a shift moving students and teachers from private schools to community schools. Private school enrollments and number of teachers are shrinking, while the number of community schools is growing. The first community schools were created in Ohio in 1998. Today they comprise slightly less than 10% of Ohio’s entire educational system. The number of people holding licenses for highly-skilled administrative jobs outnumbers the actual positions in Ohio. There are roughly five people who hold a superintendent license for every superintendent job, three people who hold a principal license for every principal position, and about two people who hold a financial license for every treasurer position. This oversupply has caused inflation adjusted administrative pay to fall over time.

Many people trained as teachers never become licensed. One sixth of graduates with a bachelor’s degree or master’s degree in education were never licensed to teach in Ohio within five years of graduation.

Teacher supply is a big problem. Not only are many Ed graduates not becoming teachers, but many teachers quit within their first 5 years. Couple this with the uneven distribution of teachers across grades and subjects and one can see it is a problem that needs addressed. Instead what we have from law makers are policies designed to drive out even more teachers from the profession, and make the profession as unattractive to prospective new educators as possible. Provisions included in the Ohio House's substitute SB229 bill are obvious examples of this. The sub. bill added language that “prohibits a school district from assigning students to a teacher who has been rated “ineffective” for two consecutive school years”. the measure of being ineffective of course being the highly flawed and unstable OTES.

The report also notes that poor quality charter schools are driving out private schools. No doubt many parents are see charter schools as a fully funded private schooling system, rather than an alternative to traditional public schools. Given how charter schools are secretly operating their finances and increasingly being run by for-profit management companies, this isn't an erroneous assumption. What is erroneous however is the quality of the education being delivered by most charter schools in Ohio.

The financial mismanagement of charter schools has become so prevalent, even the dysfunctional Ohio General Assembly are beginning to notice

Democrats in the Ohio House and Senate pledged yesterday to introduce legislation that would require more transparency and accountability for operators and sponsors of charter schools.

Sen. Joe Schiavoni, of Boardman, and Rep. John Patrick Carney, of Columbus, said they will introduce companion bills in coming days. If approved, the legislation would provide the public with details about how privately operated charter schools spend the millions in tax dollars they receive each year.

“In 1998, there were only 15 charter schools in Ohio. Those 15 charters received $11 million in state funding. Today we spend $900 million on nearly 400 charter schools,” Schiavoni, the Senate minority leader, said at a Statehouse news conference.

“The growing problem is we don’t know how most of these taxpayer dollars are being spent.”

You can read the entire Ohio Education Research Center report here.