Opinion

Alternative teachers could help many schools

An editorial from The Herald-Dispatch

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — West Virginia has hundreds of teacher vacancies that it cannot fill.

Hundreds of other teachers are instructing classes outside of their field of study.

Meanwhile, many of the new teaching graduates coming out of West Virginia’s higher education system leave for careers in other states.

Certainly teacher salaries are a part of the problem, but so are the difficulties of recruiting qualified teachers to rural areas and the shortage of teachers in many specialties such as math, science and special education.

Some lawmakers are hopeful that schools in the state might find some help from educated people who may not have planned a career in teaching. To that end, the House of Delegates this week approved a bill that would open up teacher certification to more candidates from other fields.

That could include someone with experience in industry and a degree in science or engineering who might lack an education degree…

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