Kansas’ teacher shortage is expected to continue.

Kansas Board of Education member Kathy Busch tells KWCH that the shortage will likely get worse before it gets better. Busch notes that a recent education job fair in Emporia attracted 102 school districts seeking to hire, but only 78 people looking for jobs showed up to the event. Busch says low salaries are discouraging some from entering the education field and as of last year, Kansas was 42nd in the nation in teacher pay.

According to data released by the Kansas State Department of Education in July of this year, at least 3,720 Kansas teachers have left the state, retired or taken jobs outside of education after this past school year. That number is a huge jump from the 2,150 who did so just a couple of years ago.

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Information from Metro Source News