Mulvihill: Teachers are in short supply
By Terry Murry on Friday, April 29th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News Featured Stories
PENDLETON – It’s hard to find teachers. InterMountain Education Service District Superintendent Mark Mulvihill said that school districts are competing against each other to attract the best candidates.
“It’s a challenge to find not only the medical people we employ like speech pathologists,” he said. “It’s hard to find special ed teachers. It’s hard to find high school math teachers. Foreign language is impossible.”
For a long time, Oregon administrators didn’t have enough funding to hire at will. That’s changed.
“We have the money for positions,” Mulvihill said. “We don’t have the staff and we are finding ourselves competing against each other.”
Mulvihill said how the country responds to workforce shortages combined with more parents wanting a say in their children’s education are key elements to the future of education. “People ask ‘What’s your vision for the future,’” he said. “I would say, keep your eye on school choice and keep your eye on workforce.”
