Nonprofit Mississippi News 734 teachers who were employed during the academic year 2018-19 may be eligible for their job back. The State Board of Education has granted a one-time extension to allow them to fulfill licensing requirements. This issue was at the forefront of debate throughout June, when it became clear that some teachers would lose their jobs due to a licensing misinterpretation. This issue was made more serious when Jackson Public School District reported that 236 teachers would be losing their jobs due to the misunderstanding. Both national and state news outlets covered Mississippi Today’s findings. According to the Mississippi Department of Education, there were 1,154 teachers in the state who held the license at issue and 734 of those did not meet the requirements for returning. Some in education believe this will significantly increase the chances of becoming a teacher next year. Others feel that the measure was too late to make a significant impact. Teachers who had a temporary license issued last year by the state either didn’t know, were not informed or couldn’t meet the licensing requirements to return to teaching for another year. They have one year left to fulfill these requirements, including passing certification exams. According to the Mississippi Department of Education, this is a temporary extension. It’s a positive decision in general, but it is something that I think the Mississippi Department of Education should have known before. Jon Delperdang is an educator and middle school math teacher in Greenville Public Schools District. “I would question why they do this now with two weeks prior to school starts.” This license was used by 26 teachers last year. Many of the teachers had to find other work or leave when they learned in May that they would not be eligible to teach next year. “Once the matter was brought up, we started working internally to find any possible solutions or relief. Paula Vanderford is Chief Accountability Officer at MDE. “We had to do some research in order to make sure that we were still following state law and other state boards policy about licensure.” Teachers who were unable to become licensed teachers last year and decided to return next year to work as long-term substitutes will be able to benefit from the extension. They will no longer be eligible to receive $12,500 per year as a long-term substitute. Instead, they can now earn the full salary of a teacher, which is approximately $36,000. Delperdang stated that “those people will at minimum have a full-time salary and know the state supports them.” Officials from Jackson Public Schools District also expressed their gratitude to MDE for the reprieve. “This temporary rule will allow our District to give us the time to coach our teachers in order to meet all certification requirements. This temporary rule will also help us achieve our goal of having a teacher certified in every JPS classroom. “We are grateful that the Mississippi Department Education recognizes the need to address our critical teacher shortage needs within JPS and throughout the state,” said Sherwin Johnson (JPS Executive Director for Public Engagement). This will be especially helpful for students in the Mississippi Delta where the teacher shortage is most severe. In 2018, the state had 1,067 teacher vacant positions. For congressional District 2, which is primarily the Delta, 479 teachers were needed. There were 588 teacher vacancies in all the other congressional districts. These vacancies do not include long-term subs, uncertified teacher, or classes that are taught primarily via computer programs, and not teachers. Some Delta school districts had up to 30 percent of their teachers who were not certified during 2017-2018. Eddie Anderson, Executive Director of Delta Area Association for Improvement of School, is familiar with the problem and works daily in combating it. MDE’s decision to allow districts to hire people with a bachelor’s degree is a great move. It will help us recruit and grow teachers. Anderson stated that this will enhance teaching and learning for children. “This will allow districts to continue to hire fully certified teachers, and to help many teachers with one-year licensures become fully certified.” Kayleigh skinner contributed to this report.