In teacher shortage, schools recruit professionals to teach

In teacher shortage, schools recruit professionals to teach

(AP) — A shortage of trained teachers is leaving school districts short-handed, so replacements without educational backgrounds are being recruited from other professions to fill the gap.

Dan Durfey at the middle school and Amy Jewett at the high school are two of 50 in the state who have received three-year alternative route licenses to teach while they complete master's degree programs in education.

[...] the opportunity just presented itself, and I wanted to be with my kids more so I thought, 'Why not?' Both teachers already had bachelor's degrees in science, which were required to obtain the three-year license.

Durfey, who is also a coach, said he plans to start his master's program after football season.

Superintendent Heidi Sipe, who also chairs the state licensing commission, said the alternative route license requires a dual application from both the educator and the district.

"When that happens, I'm really concerned about finding educators because a lot of people left the profession altogether due to the stress of budget cuts," she said.

According to federal Title II reports, 4,203 Oregon students were enrolled in teacher preparation programs with 2,221 completing the program in 2008-09.