Teacher shortage a challenge for Cape Girardeau School District

Hiring and retaining public school faculty is not only a national issue. It hits close to home, too.

Brice Beck, deputy superintendent of secondary education with Cape Girardeau School District, said filling the district's positions is a difficult challenge to overcome.

The number of teachers retiring is higher than the number of new teachers entering the job market, Beck said, and this is creating a shortage, especially in the State of Missouri. Also, he said, many teachers prefer being close to large cities, such as St. Louis, because there are more employment opportunities not just for them but also for their spouses and other family members.

His task, Beck said, is making teacher candidates aware of what Cape Girardeau and the school district have to offer.

"We're highly competitive in our salary here within the district. Especially over the past several years when (superintendent) Dr. (Neil) Glass and the board increased salaries," Beck said. "So, when you're looking at state averages, we're in a good place, and we offer great benefits within the district."

Cape Girardeau School District salaries for teachers are higher than the recently proposed minimum salary of $38,000, Beck said.

"I feel like we have a lot of great things to offer new teachers or teachers who are experienced in the classroom but are looking to relocate," Beck said. "We have great facilities and resources within the district."

This is Beck's first year as deputy superintendent of secondary education. For the previous five years, he was assistant principal for Cape Girardeau Central High School. Prior to that, Beck was a teacher and head football coach at Ferguson-Florissant School District in St. Louis County.

When looking for candidates to fill teaching positions, Beck said the district's main priority is looking for people who care about children.

"We need people who want to do what's best for kids," Beck said. "Make sure they're taken care of and safe at all times. Outside of that, they have to know the content of what they're teaching," he explained.

Another quality Beck said officials look for in teacher candidates is the ability to engage with the district's stakeholders.

"We're a very diverse district. We've got students that come from very poverty-stricken families, and we've got high-income families in the area. We want relational people who can relate to all those different families," Beck said.

One of the hardest areas to find teachers, Beck said, is in early childhood education. For secondary level education, Beck said it's a more content specific, and math and science teachers are difficult to find.

Maintaining and expanding the district's partnership with Southeast Missouri State University is something Beck said is a big key to filling open positions. He said he is also working to form similar relationships with other universities in and outside of Missouri.

"We host events every year to get to know their teacher candidates," Beck said. "We're working to have a better understanding of how many candidates for each of the content areas are coming out of different universities where we can possibly tell them what we have to share at Cape public schools."

Beck said the district is also keeping an eye out for potential teachers from within their own student body.

"We started a 'Grow Your Own' program in the district," Beck said. "We're able to hire students to be teaching assistants for summer school. We already know that's their path, what they're interested in doing. So, we're able to employ them, pay them over the summers, get them in the classrooms, get them the early experience for what that's like."