E&W Blog

In the post Covid era, the struggles facing K-12 education are well publicized, such as the drop in national test scores to generational lows and teacher shortages in schools around the country. In particular, too many potential teachers are looking to other fields for jobs and fleeing education for higher paying opportunities.

In his opening statement, Chairman Bean likened the state of the teacher workforce to a car nearing mechanical failure. “I like to consider myself to be a very optimistic person, but I will say this: When it comes to our K-12 education system, we are facing a giant 'WARNING!'” he said.

The hearing included witnesses with varying perspectives on the teacher preparation pipeline, such as Dr. Carole Basile, Dean of Mary Lou Fulton Techers College at Arizona State University; Dr. Melba Spooner, Dean of Reich College of Education at Appalachian State University; and Dr. Greg Mendez, Principal of Skyline High School at Mesa Public Schools.

Chairman Bean started with an easy question for the witnesses: “Is the warning light on?”

“One hundred percent,” responded Dr. Basile.

Then, Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) walked the Committee through the various facts and figures that support Dr. Basile’s “one hundred percent” confidence that the warning light is on.

“Eighty-six percent of public schools have said they struggled to hire teachers for this schoolyear. And 16 percent of teachers left their school between the 2021 and 2022 schoolyear,” stated Rep. Kiley, continuing, “In fact, enrollment in teacher education—teacher preparation programs—is just 70 percent of what it was a decade ago.”

Those numbers alone are enough to instill a sense of urgency in any policymaker concerned about the future of education. Turning to solutions, Rep. Burgess Owens (R-UT) advocated for localism and the free market.

Rep. Owens suggested, “When we talk about innovation, this is the time to really break out of the old-school way of thinking. How can we bring the best in the world—the best in our country—to this industry if they love teaching but they just can’t afford to do it?”

One potential answer involves an innovation called the team-based education model. Risk-taking educators in places like Appalachian State University and Arizona State University have looked beyond the old one-teacher, one-classroom model in favor of a more collaborative, dynamic teaching environment. By allowing teachers to operate in teams, these new programs have seen fantastic results in educational attainment and teacher retention.

Excited about the potential for team-based education, Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) asked, “How do you build trust with these districts and convince them to move away from the one-teacher one-classroom model?”

“Change moves at the speed of trust,” responded Dr. Basile, adding, “What we’ve seen in schools, they start with one team and by the end of the year everybody is in teams because the people look in and say, ‘I want to work that way as well.’”

Chairwoman Foxx then posed a follow-up for Dr. Mendez, who is actively cultivating the team-based model at his Arizona high school. “How did you ensure teachers would buy in to the changes?” she asked.

“Once we found a group to start working together, they become the marketing firm for the change that is happening on the campus. And those teachers begin to speak about their working conditions, how they know their students more, and how their students are more engaged,” replied Dr. Mendez.