Teacher education critical as veteran teachers opt for retirement
In the Bellingham Public Schools, high-quality beginning teachers typically have been plentiful, because of our close affiliation with the teacher education programs at Western Washington University’s Woodring College of Education.
But in recent years, our district has started to experience the effects of a teacher shortage that has resulted in smaller hiring pools for specific teaching roles and a shrinking substitute teacher pool. A stronger economy has created more optimal conditions for teacher retirement; as a result, young teachers who might otherwise have become substitute teachers for the first few years after graduation are more in demand for immediate full-time work.