Teacher shortage puts the brakes on summer school

By Reginald Fields and Barbara Galloway

June 29, 2000 Web posted at: 3:24 PM EDT (1924 GMT)

AKRON, Ohio (The Akron Beacon Journal) -- Some Akron students arrived for the start of summer school this week and found their high school courses canceled because the district couldn't find enough teachers to teach.

``We are recruiting as we speak,'' said Donna Loomis, Akron's director of secondary education.

Loomis said a handful of classes were canceled Monday morning as students were arriving. Some were canceled because of low enrollment but a few were called off because there was no teacher -- especially for math courses.

``We're having a hard time finding people,'' Loomis said, ``but that's every summer, especially in math.''

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In Stark County, some districts say they are having difficulty finding teachers for summer school because the teachers are going to school themselves.

``Part of the issue for us is that there are several weeks of summer in-service courses -- how to teach phonics, math, technology training . . . '' said Teresa Purses, director of curriculum and instruction for Canton Local schools. ``The teachers are so busy with staff development, we have to work around their schedules.''

There are other reasons for the teacher shortage.

Akron this year has more summer offerings for more students than ever before -- some by state order.

With the Ohio Proficiency Test factoring even greater into achievement outcomes, the state is requiring districts to offer more summer intervention classes, free of charge, for students struggling with the exams.

A decade ago, there was merely the traditional summer school needing a few dozen teachers to fill its ranks.

Today in Akron, in addition to the traditional summer school, there are summer intervention classes for elementary and middle school students; summer classes for the proficiency test; and federally funded programs, such as the Mae Jemison science project, that requires staffing.

``There is so much summer programming going on this year that staffing is short,'' Loomis said. ``We need more people.''

It wasn't immediately clear how many Akron classes were canceled Monday and Tuesday because the district was still hoping to bring in teachers and salvage those courses.

But it still may be too late because the high school summer classes last just 12 days over three weeks, and two days already have been lost. There is a second session that starts in July for which Akron still needs teachers.

Another reason for the shortage of summer teachers is that some have found more lucrative ways to spend their summers. It seems that private tutoring can put more money in teachers' pockets than teaching in summer school.

Even smaller districts, such as Alliance in Stark County, are under state mandates to offer more summer intervention courses for students. But Alliance school officials yesterday said they haven't had any trouble filling the teaching slots.

The local district in Stark County -- just south of the much-larger Canton City district -- started Monday with reading intervention programs for students in grades 2, 3 and 6, and with Virtual Middle School for 15 sixth-graders who are online with other students all over Ohio. There also are remedial classes for the ninth-grade proficiency test on the high school level.

But Purses is still looking for teachers for eight-day programs in August. Those programs help students going into fourth grade who are at risk of failing the proficiency test, and students in third to seventh grades, incorporating all subject areas. About 200 students enrolled in the all-inclusive program last summer, she said.

Susan Boon, director of curriculum and instruction for Lake schools, said it was ``very difficult'' to find nine teachers for small-group reading programs for students entering grades 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 and for two math proficiency classes on the high school level. The teachers are paid the tutoring rate of $18 an hour.

``We have found sufficient teachers, but only with great effort,'' she said. ``Most of our teachers are doing staff development or taking summer classes of their own.''

Boon said she would have liked to offer a science proficiency course at the high school, ``but I couldn't find anyone to teach it.''

Barbara Armitage, director of curriculum and instruction for Alliance schools, said she was fortunate to find enough teachers, bus drivers and cafeteria workers for two ambitious, monthlong intervention programs that are run like day camps.

``I am so blessed,'' Armitage said of the teachers and other staff who agreed to work the summer camps, which begin today. ``Truthfully, I'd say most of them are here because they're big-hearted and want to support the district.''

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