A Market Solution to Teacher Shortages Raises Alarms
Liam Knox
September 1, 2022
For-profit “alternate route” teacher-preparation programs are gaining popularity. Some say they’re key to ending teacher shortages; others fear quality and retention will suffer.
With public schools facing a dearth of teachers and traditional teacher-training programs struggling to reverse a long-declining enrollment trend, for-profit companies offering “alternative certification programs” are rising to fill states’ needs.
Enrollment in for-profit alternative teacher-certification programs grew by 48,000 students nationally, or 283 percent, from 2010–11 to 2018–19, according to a 2022 study jointly conducted by the left-leaning think tank the Center for American Progress and the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE). Meanwhile, both traditional degree programs and nonprofit alternative-certification pathways saw a decline in enrollment over the same period.
For-profit companies and their advocates say they are offering students—who are often nontraditional teaching candidates, including adults switching careers—a quick, affordable path to the classroom, while giving their state and district partners an innovative, market-based solution to the shortages wracking their schools.
