Nebraska program aims to turn students into teachers

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Teacher shortages are happening in many areas of the U.S.

Chelsey Greene, a human sciences and education career field specialist at the Nebraska Department of Education, said the department has been tracking the shortage for over a decade.

“As you can imagine, over the last 10 years, those charts and those numbers just continue to trend upward,” she said.

Greene said the crisis stretches across our state from top to bottom, no matter the school size.

“I think smaller schools, more rural schools might struggle more to find qualified candidates,” she said. “But it’s certainly not just a problem that they’re facing. It truly is in every single district.”

The search for long-term teachers has been an issue for decades.

From finding teachers to keeping them in the position, there are many factors behind this decline.

“Certainly, teacher pay, time effort, what is asked, or the perception of what those things are/are not, does not help make the field of teaching seem attractive,” she said.

The Nebraska Department of Education has many programs to combat the problem in Nebraska, including the Educators Rising program.

Started in 2015, the program is designed to prepare high school students for a career in education to potentially ease shortages.

To join, students from 9th to 12th grade, must first be enrolled in an education and training course.

“We have these education courses where they’re learning a variety of things related to being an educator,” Greene said. “So certainly the history of education all the way through, you know, thinking about classroom management and best practice for instruction, all of those things.”

The hope is that students who enter the program remain interested in this career path past high school graduation.

“I really think that students having those opportunities can really help solidify the ‘Yes, I want to go into education, this is really where my passion, my strength, my skills lie.'”

She said the need for educators is across the board, but the biggest needs are elementary and special educators.

Right now, there are three chapters of Educators Rising in Lincoln: North Star, Northwest and the Career Academy.

Greene said the number of chapters is growing each year.

“I know that those numbers certainly continue to grow and have grown since it was started,” she said. “And lots of positive reception for the program. It’s certainly a great opportunity for students to develop both personally and through leadership development and networking.”