Teacher Recruitment Harder In Urban Areas, Report Says

By Jeff Archer

Washington

While all stripes of schools are struggling to fill certain teaching positions, the nationwide teacher-recruitment crunch has hit hardest those districts already challenged by the largest numbers of at-risk students, a report finds.

More than 82 percent of urban districts polled said they allow "noncredentialed" individuals to teach because they cannot recruit and retain enough qualified educators, according to the report. Some 60 percent allow teachers to work with emergency licenses, and about as many reported that they employ long-term substitutes to keep classrooms staffed.

"Nothing will scuttle our efforts to improve like our shortage of teachers," Michael D. Casserly, the executive director of the Washington-based Council of the Great City Schools, said last week at a press conference held here...