According to the Florida Educators Association, Florida opened the school year in August with nearly 5,000 teacher vacancies, including 140 in Brevard County. As a result, many students are experiencing a substandard instruction. Recently, Principal Rick Fleming met with U.S Rep. Bill Posey, to voice his concerns.

“I gave the idea that students attending college who aspire to be a teacher should receive tuition relief,” Fleming said.

New teachers earn $48,000 just as they start their careers. This is something veteran teachers never experienced, Fleming said. 

“I think it is a wonderful idea, but I believe current and older teachers should be receiving the same amount of pay first,” first-year teacher Sally Kempfer said. “Veteran teachers have more family expenses and need money more than some younger teachers may.” 

Older generations never experienced shortages of teachers due to it always being seen as a prominent job, according to Kempfer. But in recent times things have changed.

“Teacher shortage is a very real and well-known problem,” said Kempfer, whose mom has taught in the district for decades. “The turnover rate is very high, there is more paperwork for teachers and teachers face way more problems than they used to.” 

West Shore has seen a departure of more than a third of its teachers in the past three years so science teacher Mary Schropp recognizes the importance of being able to hire new faculty members.

“I greatly agree with Fleming,” she said. “This would make the job more attractive and hopefully bring in more teachers, which we all need right now.”

By Trey Hatter