Proposed new legislation could bring some much-needed assistance to Sunflower County Consolidated School District classrooms.
The SCCSD is one of over 40 districts in the state that is in critical need of certified teachers.
House bill 160, presented by Dist. 26 State Rep. Orlando Paden of Clarksdale, intends to address that issue by creating alternative licensing avenues for educators who teach in designated critical teacher shortage areas.
This bill is of particular importance to districts like SCCSD and its Superintendent, Miskia Davis, who is one of multiple education leaders to lobby for such a bill since the fall.
“It is extremely critical, because the Sunflower County Consolidated School District is one that is always short on highly qualified teachers at the beginning of the year,” Davis said.
Davis, along with other superintendents, asserts that the solution is already in the classroom.
“We always manage to find long-term substitutes, who in many cases, perform just as well as highly qualified teachers,” she said.
The quandary is, they do not possess the required credentials to be certified classroom instructors, Davis said.
“This Bill allows those long term substitutes, if they meet the criteria, to not only become licensed, but also allows them to make the money that they deserve,” she said.
According to the information in the bill, the critical teacher shortage area licenses would be issued beginning in July and only to districts in critical shortage areas that make a formal written request.
The districts would also be required to provide an additional 50 hours of professional development to any person to whom licenses were issued, for three years.
In addition, the districts would have to assign an on-site veteran teacher mentor to the licensee for a period of two years.
Davis said she has people right now that she knows she would be able to hire if the bill passes.
“When we initially heard that the bill was on the table, we began talking to individuals who have served us well as long-term subs and substitutes and began creating a list,” she said.
Not only would the passing of the bill open up some opportunities for those already in the classroom, but there are also provisions that would allow retired educators with at least 25 years of service, who were teachers when they retired and have been out of the classroom for at least a year to be rehired and continue receiving their retirement in addition to a first-year teacher’s salary.
Davis has yet to identify any such retirees but said, “We have several retired teachers that work half of a year in our district and we are so grateful to have them for that amount of time. I am hopeful that they will want to work the entire year, and we are certainly going to ask.”
Davis said the SCCSD is currently experiencing a turnover rate of about 20 percent due to retirees, TFAs and individuals who are not licensed.
Because it is difficult for many to satisfy the state standards for certification it is the hope of district leaders that HB160 will make it easier for candidates who do not meet the state criteria to obtain licensure.
This measure is active in the current legislative session and has been referred to the education and appropriations committees, but it will likely receive opposition from those who support high teacher quality and will contend that reducing the standards will increase the possibility of failure to at-risk students.
