Interest in the teaching profession among high school seniors and college freshman has fallen 50 percent since the 1990s and 38 percent since 2010, reaching the lowest level in the last 50 years. It’s important to note that teacher shortages are not uniformly spread across schools, districts or states. So what can be done to help get more teachers into the profession and keep them there? Cutting the costs of a teaching degree is one lever to pull, whether that’s through student loan forgiveness or college scholarships. reported that when adjusted for inflation, “the average salary of teachers has actually declined by an estimated 6.4 percent, or $3,644, over the past decade.”

---

Persons: Matthew Kraft of Brown, Melissa Arnold Lyon, Kraft, Dorinda Carter Andrews, “, ” Carter Andrews, M.S.U, ” Organizations: Annenberg Institute, School Reform, Brown University, University, Albany, Michigan State University, National Education Association Locations: Colorado, Washington State