Maine schools are starting another year with not enough teachers

Maine is entering another school year with teacher and staff shortages, and they may be getting worse in some ways.

In recent years, those shortages — which have been linked to inadequate wages and other factors — have led to overworked teachers, burnt-out students and large classroom sizes.

While the full extent of this year’s shortage is not yet clear, it now appears to be affecting a wider range of classroom subjects across Maine.

The state education department releases an annual list of areas that are understaffed , and the number has grown from 12 last year to 17 this year. Some of the new ones are music, computer technology, accelerated learning, social studies in the middle and secondary levels, and programs for hearing impaired students. In both years, other areas with staff shortages have included early childhood and special education, various types of science classes, and visual arts.

A spokesperson for the Maine Department of Education said it doesn’t collect data on vacancies and shortages, and directed a reporter to Educate Maine , an organization that helps students prepare for the workforce.

“The looming teacher shortage in Maine is no longer looming. It is here right now, and it is a clear and present danger in our view,” said Kate Carlisle, a spokesperson for Educate Maine.

Carlisle wasn’t able to provide any numbers on the shortage yet, though Educate Maine plans to release a report on it later this week. But she said the shortage is due to several reasons, one of which applies to many industries across the state — an aging workforce.

About a half of Maine’s teachers are at or approaching retirement age, Carlisle said, and there aren’t enough new ones in the pipeline to replace them.

Also, teachers often do not feel supported in their positions, and resources vary greatly between rural and urban districts, Carlisle said.

“There are a lot of reasons teachers are thinking about leaving the profession, or young people are deciding not to enter the profession at all,” she said.

Raymond Phinney, a spokesperson for the Bangor School Department, said while Bangor has been fortunate to avoid staffing shortages heading into this year, it’s had to get creative to fill some positions. He said the district has had five speech-language therapist positions open for some time, so it contracted with a third party service to fill them.

It’s not just teachers. Phinney said Bangor has two custodial positions and two food service positions open. He emphasized that school districts across the state aren’t just hiring in the summer, but are often looking for people to fill in staff positions during the school year as well.

“Most schools are always looking for these kinds of positions,” Phinney said.

Educate Maine is doing its best to address the issue by launching a new program called the Teach Maine Center. The program is just getting off the ground, but Carlisle said the group plans to have an updated list of career development opportunities for current teachers and streamlined pathways to help prospective teachers get their certifications.

“If we lack teachers, we’re not going to be turning out graduates who are as capable of supporting Maine’s future economy,” Carlisle said.

The state education department has helped to develop the Teach Maine Plan , which provides a set of recommendations for improving the recruitment and retention of teachers, including offering competitive wages and increasing scholarship and loan forgiveness programs.