School system in good shape, despite national shortage

Despite a mediocre pay scale and retirement plan, the Libby school system has mostly avoided the teacher shortage crisis facing the nation.

As baby boomers retire and young educators disappear to higher-paying and less stressful careers, cities all around the nation are offering big incentives — a $10,000 signing bonus for algebra instructors in North Carolina and New Mexico and a housing incentive in New York are just a few — to offset the exodus of talented educators.But in Libby, no enticing signing bonus awaits new teachers. Except for the one that surrounds them."We're fortunate that we live in a beautiful spot. It's easier to recruit," said Libby High School principal Rik Rewerts.Compared to other towns and cities within the state, Rewerts said Libby has a good pay scale. But the school system here doesn't offer as much as neighboring states.

The high school loses an average of three or four teachers a year out of 33. Rewerts began the academic year with five new teachers, which is up from last year but down from the year before. Most disappear because of retirement.Except for a third-grade teacher position, Asa Wood Elementary school is operating at full staff, according to principal Margaret O'Brian Johnson. The position was left open after the new hire, who resigned 10 days before the start of the school year, could not find a suitable place to live.

A third of all new teachers leave the profession after only three years, and almost half are gone after five years, according to a report released by the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future.That commission offered a three-step approach to resolving the shortage issue. The steps called for recruiting high-quality beginning teachers into at-risk schools, moving high quality teachers from high-performing schools into at-risk schools and ensuring the retention of these teachers.Department of Education statistics report that about 269,000 public school teachers left their jobs during the 2003-4 school year. Fifty-six percent of those responded that they left to pursue a different career or because they were dissatisfied. The exodus has recruiters rushing to fill vacancies, and often with unqualified teachers. As a result, novice teachers are assigned positions for which they didn't interview, something Rewerts said the high school here has never had to do.Teachers don't tend to stick around when they're burdened or overwhelmed by a long-term position in an unexpected environment.And that's where many are finding themselves in schools today.Rewerts offered the example of a "headhunter" — one who is charged with the sole responsibility of finding teachers — who he met at a recent job fair. The man needed to fill 6,200 positions for a school district in Houston."He didn't care how good a teacher they were. He wanted them certified. If he got their name on paper, they got a $6,000 bonus just like that," Rewerts said."When you sign up for a place like that, you have no idea what building you're in, what part of the city you're in, you have no control over anything."Teacher shortages are at a critical level around the country. In Libby, Rewerts described the situation as a "concern."Teacher disillusionment, and thus departure, doesn't stem from the community or the school. It stem's from salary, Rewerts said."You get out of school and you think, 'Ok, I got this full-time job, I'm going to be able to buy a car, be able to have some fun and do some things,'" he said."But it's tough."It's tough because teachers' class loads are increasing and their preps are increasing. So, the stress is increasing and the burnout rate is increasing. Their pay isn't increasing. And pay is better in other professions."Most of our teachers have either a second job or summer jobs so that they can make it," Rewerts said.The controversial federal law known as the No Child Left Behind Act has required teachers to play a large role in molding their students' progress into universal standards — standards that hold despite funding shortfalls and reports of grade manipulation and lowered standards.However, the law infused some due attention and critique of an educational system that Rewerts said became stagnant for a long time."For a lot of years, when kids came to your room, you shut the door and you taught them what you wanted to," he said."Teachers are no longer independent contractors. They're held accountable for what happens and they need to be consistent with everyone else in the nation."How did Rewerts manage to stick around to see his 29th year in the education system? It all comes back to location and how it is the draw that sells Libby over and over again."That's something that, even myself, it goes through my head to possibly retire and go to another state and build a retirement in that state. I'd be further ahead financially," Rewerts said.But he never acts on it. And he said he never will."I'm not joking. I love living here. I love Libby."