51黑料

ST. LOUIS 鈥� The middle school math and science teachers at Momentum Academy teach their classes in four schools at once.

Virtual learning, which started as a necessity of the pandemic, is now addressing a local teacher shortage. Several teachers at Momentum, formerly Eagle charter schools, livestream their lessons from one building to students at three other campuses in south 51黑料.

Middle and high school students in at least two other local school districts, Normandy and Riverview Gardens, take some classes online while in classrooms supervised by an aide.

鈥淔or right now, it is the best model,鈥� said Zemira Mulasalihovic, the seventh-grade math teacher at Momentum schools. 鈥淲orking all together makes it easier.鈥�

Mulasalihovic teaches math for an hour each day from the Gravois Park campus, livestreaming to classes in the other three schools that are overseen by a facilitator. She travels to the other schools to meet with the facilitators once a week and to offer small-group instruction to students in person. It鈥檚 led to more collaboration and coordination, she said, with all students learning together.

While there is little data on the hybrid learning model some schools are using this year, students who attend class in person significantly outperform their peers who participate virtually, according to state test scores during the pandemic. In spring of 2021, 39% of in-person students scored at grade level in math, compared to 18% of students in distance learning across Missouri.

Scores and attendance dropped further in schools with fewer certified teachers that are concentrated in 51黑料 and north 51黑料 County, state data show.

鈥淒uring the pandemic one thing came out loud and clear for certain groups of folks, high poverty and minority folks, and that鈥檚 virtual just didn鈥檛 work,鈥� said Ray Cummings, president of the 51黑料 city teachers鈥� union. 鈥淚f schools don鈥檛 have enough teachers, then they need to send those kids somewhere they can get a proper education.鈥�

On Tuesday, the state board of education鈥檚 Teacher Recruitment and Retention Blue Ribbon Commission is scheduled to release their findings on the school staffing crisis. The commission鈥檚 nine recommendations for legislators will include an increase in starting teacher salary of $38,000 from $25,000 along with provisions for teacher mental health and tuition assistance, state education leaders said.

Low pay, stress and a heated political climate have contributed to a longstanding teacher shortage exacerbated by burnout during the pandemic. Certified science, math and special education teachers are especially hard to come by, along with teachers who choose to work in high-poverty and rural areas.

Two months into the school year, there are 271 teacher and aide positions in the 51黑料 area listed on a job search site run by EdPlus, a local nonprofit that serves school districts.

Missouri鈥檚 teacher shortage is most urgent at the elementary school level, with 1,561 vacancies last year. There were an additional 852 openings for special education teachers statewide, according to the education department.

鈥淲e hear daily from administrators citing the impossibility of finding qualified personnel to meet mandates of the federal law requiring specialized instruction and related services for children with disabilities,鈥� reads an October report from the based in Springfield, Missouri. 鈥淣o parent wants their child to be in a classroom with an under- or unqualified teacher or receive specialized services from someone who is filling in after a two-week crash course in that service.鈥�

In an effort to fill more classrooms, the state in recent years relaxed its requirements for a substitute teaching certificate to a high school diploma and a 20-hour online course. In four charter school networks 鈥� Kairos Academies, KIPP 51黑料, The Soulard School and North Side Community School 鈥� more than half of classes last year were led by teachers with inappropriate or no certification for the subject or grade level, including substitutes. In both Normandy and 51黑料 Public Schools, 19% of classes have inadequately certified teachers.

Uncertified teachers are in fewer than 1% of classrooms in four 51黑料 County districts 鈥� Brentwood, Maplewood Richmond Heights, Parkway and Rockwood.

That鈥檚 by legislative design, said Heather Fleming, former teacher and founder of the .

鈥淲hen we look at the shortage of teachers, especially certified teachers, all of this points to a systemic problem. It has always been in Black neighborhoods, Black school districts where we find this lack of high-quality teaching,鈥� Fleming said. 鈥淥ur legislators are so busy concentrating on culture wars and made-up issues with critical race theory, when in the end critical race theory teaches us exactly why these situations exist. They know that being able to find out why the systems are set up like this is the way to find solutions.鈥�

鈥楥risis mode鈥�

The inequities persist when teaching candidates overlook school districts with poor outcomes, said Joylynn Pruitt-Adams, interim superintendent at Riverview Gardens School District.

The district in north 51黑料 County has filled nearly half of its 90 teaching vacancies this year with long-term substitutes and retired teachers who are also collecting a pension. Last year, 15% of classes in the district were taught by teachers with a lack of certification, about double the state average.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been in crisis mode. We hold a recruitment fair every week,鈥� Pruitt-Adams told the state board of education in August.

At less than $50,000, the average teacher salary in Riverview Gardens is one of the lowest among school districts in the region. When the state took control of the under-performing district in 2010, teachers had to reapply for their jobs and lost seniority privileges.

鈥淵ou can go three blocks over to Jennings and make $20,000 more,鈥� Pruitt-Adams said.

In Normandy Schools Collaborative, 37 of 190 teaching positions are filled by substitutes this year, according to district leaders. The provisionally accredited district currently has six openings for science teachers in Normandy.

In August, assistant superintendent Nakia Douglas asked the school board to approve nearly $175,000 for Texas company Proximity Learning to provide virtual teaching for six high school and nine middle school science courses this year.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 see the teachers on the horizon,鈥� she said.