Thursday, September 2, 1999 Older Editions

No teacher shortage, yet

By Rebecca Lipchitz

While school districts across the state scramble to fill teaching positions by opening day, Andover is mulling over which qualified candidates to choose.

In other words, the teacher shortage across the state has not yet hit Andover. But it soon will, predicts Superintendent of Schools Dr. Claudia Bach.

While every school district has to deal with last-minute resignations almost annually, Andover is well-stocked with teachers this year, she says.

Bach believes Andover doesn't suffer from the current teachers shortage like other towns for several reasons, including the fact that they got a jump start on hiring this year.

While advertising to fill vacancies created by teachers who plan to retire often starts in March or April, Andover began seeking applications in January, she says.

But the pool of more than 1,600 applicants for Andover's 51 open positions, is small compared to other years, she says.

Three or four years ago, the School Department was receiving more than 4,000 applications a year, she says.

"We're an attractive district. People want to be here, but we have an aging teacher force, which is the whole problem behind the shortage," she says.

Like the brewing elements of a storm, several factors in public education across the state are creating the teacher void. Enrollments are rising (Bach calls it a "baby boomlet"), teachers are retiring, and fewer people are becoming teachers.

Bach says she believes fewer women consider teaching these days, because there are more career options available to them. She cites the difference between her own generation and that of her children.

"I started teaching in the '60s, and my sister became a nurse. Not too many women were lawyers, business owners, or in medicine," she says, and adds that her son attended UMass Medical School in a class with at least 50 percent females.

"There's been a giant shift," she says.

While few Andover schools opened with new positions to be filled, many replaced retiring teachers, including the Doherty Middle School which said goodbye to long-time teachers Susan Hutchinson, Bob Wormsley along with world language teacher Doug Halstead, says Principal Floyd McManus.

Principal Charlie Friel of West Elementary School says he has successfully filled most positions, but finding special needs teachers and assistants continues to be a challenge.

While more than 50 people applied to a teaching position in science at West Middle School, according to Principal Vicki Simms, other school systems are calling Andover desperate for help, she says.

One advantage is that Andover has not had to resort to hiring uncertified teachers, as some area towns have reportedly done, Simms says.

The Shawsheen Integrated Primary School seems to be weathering the shortage most easily. According to Principal Theresa Murphy, with the exception of one new position, a health teacher, all of their teachers have been at the school for at least four years.

Their new health teacher is one of many new such positions across the system as a new Health Education program begins, Bach says.