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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The state’s education department is using federal COVID relief money to pay for certification tests for teachers, an effort to help combat the shortage of educators. 

Until the end of September, incoming and current teachers can register to take up to three certification tests for free, with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) picking up the tab. The goal is to help get more educators in the classroom in a state that is suffering a teacher shortage crisis. 

“I think we’re still in for a couple rough years of trying to fill our classrooms,” said assistant DESE commissioner Paul Katnik. “Hopefully there is relief on the way, but certainly, we aren’t there yet.”

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A lack of educators has been an ongoing struggle in Missouri for several years.

“We started talking about how we aren’t headed in the right direction and then the pandemic certainly didn’t help us. It kind of exasperated and maybe sped up something that was on its way anyway,” Katnik said. 

Now, the department is trying another avenue to entice teachers. DESE plans to spend $500,000 of federal COVID relief money to pay the fee associated with educator certification tests. 

“When we calculated it, 3,500 to 3,700 tests could be covered with this, and it’s any test that we administer through Pearson. That’s really everything,” Katnik said. “That’s teachers in different kinds of content areas, elementary to chemistry, principals, school counselors and superintendents. We know that folks that are trying to be teachers have to pay for these certification tests, and so we thought let’s set it up in a way where we can cover the tests for awhile.”

It also gives current educators the chance to expand in the profession. 

“The more areas of certificates you have, the more marketable you are for a school district,” Katnik said. “Not only would teachers be following an interest area of theirs or a passion, it also makes them more marketable for a school district to hirer.”

Earlier this year, Katnik told the State Board of education, roughly 3,000 teachers are “inappropriately certified.” Inappropriately certified” That means an educator that is teaching in a content area that he or she doesn’t have the appropriate certificate for. 

According to the Teacher Workforce Report, which Katnik provided to the State Board of Education in January, the content areas with the highest number of inappropriately certified teachers are in elementary education, followed by special education. 

Elementary Education 1-6: 523 full time unqualified 

Mild/Moderate Cross Categorical K-12: 409 

Early Childhood Special Education B-3: 391

Early Childhood Education B-3: 372

Social Science 5-9: 281

Physics 9-12: 281

Mathematics 5-9: 234

Severely Developmentally Disabled B-12: 204

Biology 9-12: 199

General Sciences 5-9: 191

“We used to always have shortages in science, math and special education, that’s not a new thing, but we began to see it expand and get worse,” Katnik said. 

But Katnik said there is good news to share because there are more incoming teachers on the horizon. 

“Over the last couple of years, we’ve watched enrollment on campuses jump from 8,000 up to 10,000 and now up to 11,000, so we think there are more people on campuses studying to be teacher, but of course that’s not an overnight process,” Katnik said. “That takes a couple of years to get done. We think there is an increased pool on the way, but schools need help now.”

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Since the waiver opened last week, Katnik said already a third of the money has been spent. Teachers have until the end of September to register on the Pearson website and then have up to one year to take the certification tests. 

“You’ll go in and register like you normally do, but when the bill part comes, it will show zero,” Katnik said. “We’re trying to make it as smooth and as easy as we can if someone wants to be a teacher. We want to help them get there.”

Katnik expects the money to run out before the September deadline. He’s asking people who are considering becoming a teacher to take advantage of this waiver. 

“There’s never been a greater need than what we have right now,” Katnik said. “All of us need good teachers for our kids and I would just encourage people who are interested to please join the profession. It’s a great profession and an honorable one.”

DESE’s $10 billion budget is sitting on the governor’s desk waiting for his approval. In that budget, there is money to take the responsibility off the district to raise teacher pay to $38,000. Currently, the teacher baseline salary grant program requires districts to pay 30% of the increase. There’s also money to continue the Career Ladder program, a way to give experienced teachers a raise by helping with extracurricular activities. 

Many school districts across the state are also pivoting to 4-day weeks due to the shortage of teachers. The shortened week is being used as a carrot to potential candidates. This past school year, more than 140 school districts are utilizing a shortened week, most in rural areas, an increase of more than 100 schools in just four years.

Four-day weeks currently affect less than 10 percent of the state’s students.

The Independence School District just outside of Kansas City voted late last year to implement a four-day week starting this upcoming school year. With nearly 14,000 students, it’s the largest district so far to make the switch.

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