MILFORD, Maine — With weeks to go before students return for a new academic year, schools are scrambling to find teachers to fill classrooms.
"The last few years, certainly with the pandemic, we experienced some level of shortages," Trish Clark, superintendent of Milford schools said Monday.
Data published by the state shows 1,300 teachers and other school staff quit their jobs last year. Administrators from districts across the state say these vacancies are hard to fill, in part, because of low salaries.
According to the Maine Department of Education, teachers make on average 20 percent less than other professionals in jobs that require a college degree. This, in turn, has impacted hiring. David Wilcox has been the principal of Dr. Lewis Libby for two years and has noticed how teacher recruitment has changed since he entered education.
"The schools have to go out and find those teachers and really get in the trenches. Whereas in the past, the teachers have had to come to the school to sell themselves."
In an effort to staff schools, lawmakers are putting forth alternative solutions that don’t involve the often politically tenuous move of pushing for local tax hikes to improve teacher compensation.
Last week, Governor Mills signed a bill allowing teachers who have retired within the last 10 years to be recertified without having to undergo the lengthy process usually required.
State Sen. Peter Lyford, R-Penobscot, voted in favor of the bill. He says it could offer relief to short-handed schools in his district.
"This is gonna be a start to help… it's not the answer, but it certainly is a help," He said. "I represent Penobscot and Hancock County which are 12 towns... and every single one of them has a teacher shortage. It has grown more and more and more each year."
Because the legislation requires 90 days after the adjournment of the Legislature to take effect, the recertified teachers likely wouldn’t enter the classroom until October.