Illinois State University is working with local school districts to fill teacher shortages

Posted on September 21, 2022
To help with the shortage, in April, Gov. Pritzker signed laws lowering the registration fee for short-term substitute workers. (Photo courtesy: WJBC/File)

By Blake Haas

NORMAL – Local school districts are in crisis mode as the statewide teacher shortage worsens, leading to larger class sizes.

Despite an uptick in interest in taking education as a major, Dr. Monica Norian, Acting Dir. of ISU for student teaching, reports that the University is doing everything possible to stop the shortage.

“We’re trying to look at ways that we can help our districts that are in crisis. We hear from our district administrative partners they have unfilled positions that they have to put underqualified professionals into short-term substitutions just to have coverage of those classes. So we are looking at innovative things to solve those problems.”

To help with the shortage, in April, Gov. Pritzker signed laws lowering the registration fee for short-term substitute workers.

“There are some creative solutions that we’re trying to support, and that’s student teachers working as short-term subs.,” Dr. Norian said on the afternoon show, which airs weekdays from 4 – 6 p.m. “So a student who has over 60 hours and has a license from the Regional Office of Education, they can jump in and help some of these high need areas with a short-term sub.”

According to Dr. Norian, the teacher shortage is due to teachers leaving the profession, parents, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].

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