Teacher Warns of 'Pandemic' Shortage of Teachers -- Though His District's Count Is Going Up

Candidates for the Michigan Department of Education's Regional Teacher of the Year award “have experienced firsthand the impact of the teacher shortage in Michigan’s public schools,” according to a Jan. 21 press release.

Among those claiming to feel the pain is Crestwood third-grade teacher Brian Paul, newly crowned Teacher of the Year for Region 9. 

“The Michigan teacher shortage is another pandemic gripping our beloved students, taxing our current teachers and increasing mounting trepidation amongst our families,” Paul said.

The contagion seems to have skipped Paul's district however. He is employed by Crestwood School District in Dearborn Heights. The district’s teacher count in the 2021-22 school year is higher than in any of the last four school years.

Crestwood employs 232 teachers in the current school year, up 8.4% from the 214 teachers it had four years ago. The number of students has stayed about the same, however. The district enrolled 3,949 students in 2017-18 and 3,967 in 2020-21. (The final audited enrollment enrollment figures are not yet available for 2021-22.)

Paul nevertheless entreated the state to use every weapon against a teacher-shortage pandemic. 

“August legislators, I entreat you, allow teachers to continue to provide all of our students this hallowed gift of education by enacting the strategic options listed in the resolution on Michigan's teacher shortage provided by the MDE and adopted by the Michigan State Board of Education," Paul said. "Act now, to allow our Michigan youth to blaze a path of education prowess long into the 21st century!”