My kids’ new backpacks have arrived, we’ve shopped for school supplies (with extras for me because this forever student loves notebooks and pens), and we’re waiting until the last minute to buy new shoes because their feet grow an inch a week. The school year has arrived, and my family is ready to return to their classmates and teachers. I’m also ready to hand over my kids to their classrooms after a summer filled mostly with good times at the lake, but also some challenges with sibling bickering and experiments with scissors and hair. We will not get back-to-school haircuts this year, instead proudly displaying our budding hair styling skills. Don’t doubt for one second that an 8-year-old can reconfigure toenail clippers for shears.
It’s hard to let go of summer, especially when it’s such a compressed and frenzied season, but the excitement for a new school year is equally alluring. Somehow, I have a third-grader this year, and when I was that impossibly young, I had my favorite teacher, Mrs. Elke. My kids will humor me when I tell them about that beloved teacher, how she inspired us with a section on space, and for a science project I created the lunar surface with a heavy layer of plaster of Paris atop a hunk of plywood my dad scavenged from the pole barn. Mrs. Elke also came to my aid midwinter of that year when I was ganged up by a group of girls on the playground, showing me that adults pay attention and can help make a bitter situation easier to swallow. I have a feeling that I’m not the only one from St. Francis Xavier Elementary who adored her.
Teachers and public education staff are who shape our children and their educational and social development, but across Montana hundreds of those opportunities to connect teachers with students are missing. Once again, our state is facing significant teacher shortage. As of the start of August, the Office of Public Instruction listed 853 job openings. Many districts are addressing the shortage with emergency employment authorizations — essentially hiring individuals who don’t fully meet the requirements of a licensed teacher. It’s not a solution by any means, but schools are trying what they can to fill openings. Part of the shortage problem is low teacher pay. Montana ranks near the bottom for teacher salaries and, as the cost of living continues to rise across the state, particularly due to the increase in property taxes under the Republican supermajority, qualified educators are driven elsewhere. No amount of emergency hiring measures can solve this crisis. For a state that touts itself as the “Last Best Place” we shouldn’t be complacent with our dismal low rankings in education. Educating our children should be a top priority but between school funding and teacher salaries, we continue to fall short.
Of the many gifts Mrs. Elke gave me, beyond the support on how to deal with tricky social dynamics when you’re the odd kid out with thick glasses and a mouth full of metal, was the inspiration to seek wider worlds and invigorating opportunities to fulfill my curiosity. I’m confident that my third-grader and preschool-aged kids will also find this in their classrooms, thanks to the gifted individuals who clearly don’t do their jobs for the money. At the very least, they deserve a living wage and more. We must do better.
Maggie Doherty is a writer and book reviewer who lives in Kalispell with her family.