The Senate Higher Education and Education and Youth committees met jointly Oct. 15 to consider why educators enter and leave the profession. Below is a link to the full agenda and video footage of the meeting, which begins at the 18:40 mark.
PAGE Presents Member Survey Data & Recommendations to Joint Senate Committee |
 Senate Higher Education Committee Chair Billy Hickman (R-Statesboro) convened the meeting and mentioned that the Oct. 15 meeting is the first of four or five to explore teacher shortages and leader training. On behalf of PAGE, Claire Suggs presented member survey findings and recommendations. Other presenters from GOSA, GaDOE, and GPEE provided related data and promising recommendations to address teacher chortages. |
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GOSA – Teacher Retention Rates Vary Widely Among Districts, Student Poverty Strongly Correlates with Teacher Demographics and Attrition
Monica Flamini and Shuyang Wang from the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement (GOSA) provided high-level trends from its teacher and leaders workforce report published by the agency annually. GOSA reported that though the total number of teachers and leaders is trending upward, challenges in the workforce remain, such as quantifying and clearly defining educator vacancies. Flamini and Wang recommended the adoption of a clear definition of whether Georgia vacancies refer to completely unfilled positions or whether vacancies refer to positions filled by an educator teaching out-of-field. The average Georgia teacher retention rate was 86.3% during 2021-2022 school year. District retention rates vary from 65.8% to 95.6%. Districts with the highest rates of retention include Glascock, Pike, Pierce, Telfair, and Jenkins. The lowest retention rate districts include Calhoun, Baker, Brooks, Chattahoochee, and Quitman.
GOSA pointed to the growing diversity of Georgia’s teacher workforce as a positive development and cited a study demonstrating higher student achievement when Black students are taught by Black teachers during students’ early elementary this year. GOSA noted growing numbers of Hispanic and Asian students in Georgia and the need for more Hispanic and Asian teachers.
Flamini provided data correlating higher school student poverty levels with teacher attrition. GOSA explained part of this correlation through the concept of teacher sorting, meaning that veteran teachers direct themselves to lower-poverty schools. GOSA data indicates that Black teachers are more likely to teach in schools with higher student poverty levels. GOSA stressed that because Black teachers often work in some of the most challenging school environments, ample support and preparation should be provided to them.
GaDOE Recommends Adding Steps to State Teacher Salary Schedule, Expanding Return to Work, Securing Minimum Number of Educator Personal Days
April Aldridge, deputy superintendent of teaching and learning at the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE), profiled the Georgia educator and cited a 90.08% 2024 educator retention rate.
To strengthen the Georgia teacher workforce, GaDOE has reduced emphasis on standardized testing, added a professional growth component to the teacher evaluation system, reduced observations required of veteran teachers, and directed districts to administer Milestones at the end of the year to increase instructional time. Aldridge praised a collaborative effort to raise teacher pay statewide.
Holly Witcher, the current Georgia Teacher of the Year, referenced GaDOE’s 2015 teacher survey and a 2022 Teacher Burnout report. As a result of the Burnout report, an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) was added for educators, and the state Teacher of the Year was added as an advisory member of the State Board of Education (SBOE). Other Burnout report recommendations have not yet been implemented by policymakers, including a pay increase beyond 21 years on the state salary schedule.
Aldridge also provided an overview of GA Leads, the new evaluation system that more than a dozen school districts are piloting. The pilot, now in its second full year, is intended as a direct response to the Teacher Burnout report.
Co-presenting with Aldridge and Witcher was Christy Todd, the immediate past state Teacher of the Year, who recently joined GaDOE. Todd mentioned programs intended to identify more candidates and strategies to bolster the teacher pipeline: paraprofessionals with bachelor’s degrees, military service members, career changers, teacher leaders, teachers adding endorsements, teacher signing days, teacher contract signing bonuses, and teacher residencies.
Todd also described GaDOE’s legislative priorities: expanding state salary steps beyond 21 years, expanding return-to-work opportunities to make reading, math, and special education statewide priority areas, and securing a minimum number of personal days for teachers and classified staff.
PAGE Addresses Teacher Planning, Educator Student Loans, Professional Learning, Funding for School Counselors, Social Workers, and Psychologists
On behalf of PAGE, Claire Suggs presented PAGE survey data on why teachers stay in the profession, including findings regarding the importance of supportive school leaders. Suggs provided policymakers with PAGE recommendations to restore state funding for educator professional learning, reduce the cost of becoming a teacher by restoring HOPE educator grant programs, increase funding for school psychologists, social workers, and counselors, and protect teacher planning time by increasing substitute teacher pay.
GPEE Presents on Needed Design of Formal Teacher Leader Roles, Deployment of Teacher Leaders, and Leveraging Current Resources
Matt Smith from the Georgia Partnership for Excellence in Education (GPEE) emphasized the importance of high-quality teacher induction programs, citing the high financial cost of teacher attrition due to the cost of identifying and training new teachers. Smith also referenced high rates of building- and district-leader attrition.
Focusing on paid teacher apprenticeships and residencies, Smith described programs where education preparation providers work closely with school districts to provide job-embedded training.