Catholic
Education
Teachers in high demand
By HEIDI SCHLUMPF
Special to the National Catholic Reporter
Chicago
As part of its unique work/study
curriculum, Christo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago requires students to
spend one day a week working in clerical, data processing or light assembly
jobs. But the school never expected that some students would end up as
employees in its own classrooms.
When faced with the challenge of replacing a Spanish teacher while
she was on a three-week maternity leave, one solution that surfaced was to have
seniors teach underclassmen. The arrangement worked so well, it was continued
even after the new mother returned to the classroom.
This makes the seniors feel needed and helps build their
leadership and speaking skills, said Nancy Castro, senior Spanish
teacher.
Partly because of its unique mission, Christo Rey was able to make
lemonade when faced with the sour reality of the teacher shortage currently
plaguing both public and parochial schools. The U.S. Department of Education
estimates that 222,000 new teachers a year will be needed over the next several
years to meet shortages caused by both rising enrollment and the declining
number of education graduates. The result is increasingly a sellers
market for teachers, with Catholic and public schools sometimes finding
themselves in direct competition to fill spots.
That has been the reality in California over the past couple of
years, as an initiative of former Gov. Pete Wilson to reduce class size in the
lower grades put pressure on public school districts to quickly hire new
teachers. Lured by significantly higher salaries, some Catholic school teachers
moved into the public system, leading some to charge public schools with
poaching.
Whatever the cause, educational experts say all types of schools
will face increased pressure over the next several years to attract and retain
qualified teachers.
Across the country, Catholic schools are finding creative ways to
fill empty positions. Some dioceses are working with volunteer programs, like
the Inner-City Teaching Corps, and considering creative scheduling or
job-sharing. In Detroit, some principals are spending a few hours a day in the
classroom, retired teachers are being asked to come back and non-Catholic
candidates are being accepted, except to teach religion.
In the public system, many states are looking at alternative
certification models so business people can more easily move into teaching as a
second career. Some dioceses also are stepping up their recruitment efforts.
But most Catholic schools dont have the resources to do what the state of
Massachusetts recently announced: offer signing bonuses of up to $20,000 for
new teachers willing to teach for four years in low-income public schools.
Even if they could, signing bonuses dont get at the true
motivation for teaching in Catholic schools, said Claire Helm, director of the
Office of Leadership Development for the National Catholic Educational
Association. It will probably attract folks, but were interested in
the long-term commitment of great teachers who want to make a difference,
she said. Teachers dont typically get into this field for the
money.
Still, Helm admits that the salary issue is a valid one. Because
of their traditionally lower salaries, Catholic schools face an extra hurdle in
recruiting teachers. For example, starting pay for teachers in the Chicago
archdiocese is $20,350, while their public school counterparts often start at
$32,000 or more, according to Dominican Sr. Georgia Luznicky, director of
school personnel.
We have to pay these people for the service theyre
providing, said Dominican Sr. Frances Nadolny, superintendent of schools
for the Detroit archdiocese, where a task force has made recommendations about
raising Catholic school teacher salaries. While its a ministry,
these very dedicated teachers need to make enough money to support themselves
and their families, she said.
But the teacher shortage trend cuts across public/private lines.
Many education graduates in Michigan are being wooed by other states, Nadolny
said. In fact, the public school system in Detroit is considering offering
signing bonuses for new teachers.
In todays strong economy, nearly a third of education
graduates are choosing not to teach because of low salaries.
Unfortunately, 10 or 15 years ago there was a teacher glut, and lots of
young people were discouraged from going into teaching because there
werent jobs, said Elaine Schuster, superintendent of schools for
the Chicago archdiocese. Now were on the other side of it, and
its a real dilemma, she said.
Compounding the shortage of qualified graduates is a demographic
baby bubble, which has resulted in higher enrollments, especially
in preschool, kindergarten and primary grades, Schuster said. The Chicago
archdiocesan Office for Catechesis also reports a similar trend, with
enrollment in parish religious education programs jumping 6 percent last
year.
Given such trends, Schuster said she notices more
poaching going on: Public school districts -- who have long seen
Catholic schools as fertile soil for qualified teachers -- are recruiting
Catholic school teachers and luring them away as late as Labor Day, leaving
Catholic school principals high and dry just as students return from summer
vacation.
Not surprisingly, an increasing number of Catholic school teachers
are finding it difficult to turn down the opportunity for a big pay increase.
St. Tarcissus principal Shelley Carey doesnt blame them. After all, they
have families to feed and mortgages to pay. But when she lost two teachers last
year over the summer, she was forced to scramble for replacements.
Both of the teachers who left said they didnt really
want to go, said Carey, who has been principal at the Chicago elementary
school for 10 years. There are things we offer that public schools
dont offer, and thats a draw. But you cant put dinner on the
table with those things.
Luckily, Carey was able to replace her two teachers -- as well as
a third open position -- with a substitute who was interested in full-time work
and with candidates from the archdiocesan Office of Catholic Education.
Carey wasnt the only one sifting through
résumés late last August. In the Chicago archdiocesan school
system, the largest Catholic system in the country, 107 schools were looking
for 195 teachers as the school year opened, according to Luznicky.
Thats unprecedented for us, she said.
Last fall, the Detroit archdiocese reported that more than 340
teaching posts were vacant in its elementary and high schools, and similar
numbers are expected this year. Catholic schools in California also have been
hard hit, with legislation requiring smaller class sizes in public schools
creating added competition.
Helm, of the NCEA, is reluctant to term it a full-fledged
teacher shortage without hard data, which she is in the process of
gathering. But I do hear stories, anecdotally, that its affecting
hiring, she said. In response, the NCEAs marketing plan for the
next year will emphasize teacher recruiting.
Dioceses are also stepping up recruitment efforts. In Chicago,
posters and pamphlets inviting prospective teachers to Change the world
one student at a time are being distributed by the Office of Catholic
Education.
Even more hopeful is the possibility of increasing Catholic school
teachers salaries. The recommendation by the Detroit task force has gone
through a number of consultative channels and is expected to be implemented
soon, Nadolny said.
In Chicago, Cardinal Francis George recently announced his
commitment to more money for teachers. In conscience, I cannot
indefinitely support a system that pays its teachers, on average, only half of
what their peers earn in the government schools, he said at a December
news conference unveiling the results of a Special Task Force on Catholic
Schools.
That report also acknowledged some of the broader financial
problems facing archdiocesan schools, and the cardinal vowed to continue
efforts to adequately and equitably fund Catholic schools, possibly with
assistance from the public sector.
The salary issue aside, many agree that better marketing of the
advantages of working in Catholic schools would help address the teacher
shortage. New teachers especially appreciate smaller schools, a sense of
community, professional support and the opportunity to be involved in program
development, said Schuster of Chicago. There are people who dont
realize these advantages, she said.
Helm of the NCEA notes that many teachers prefer the holistic
approach of Catholic schools. We dont have to apologize for our
commitment to Catholic Christian values, she said.
Nadolny of Detroit cites the working environment in Catholic
schools -- including safety and a warm sense of community -- as a plus.
The biggest thing is teachers are able to talk about God and Jesus,
she said. And they have the opportunity to grow in a faith
community.
Chicagos marketing campaign tries to appeal to the goodwill
of young men and women who want to do something meaningful with their lives.
If you want to make a difference in this world, Luznicky said,
teaching is a good way to do it.
As for those Christo Rey seniors who are getting a taste of
teaching, some may actually decide to pursue it as a career. Some have
commented on how much work it is, said Castro. But others have
said, Wow! I could do this.
National Catholic Reporter, March 26,
1999
|