SAN FRANCISCO – Fewer than 4 in 10 California high school students are completing the requirements to be eligible for the state’s public universities, fueling worries of a shortage of college-educated workers when the value of a bachelor’s degree has never been higher.
To meet entrance requirements, high school students must complete 15 classes with a grade of C or better, including foreign language, lab science, intermediate algebra, and visual or performing arts.
At the current rate, educators and policy experts say, far too few students are finishing high school with the minimum coursework needed even to apply to a University of California or California State University campus. In 1994, 32 percent of public school graduates met the course and grade prerequisites, known as “A-G requirements” because they cover seven subject areas. For the Class of 2012, it was 38 percent.
Her experience encapsulates some of the root causes of a California teacher shortage that is bad and getting worse, according to a new survey released Wednesday.
The staffing problem is both wide and deep, with 75% of more than 200 districts surveyed reporting difficulties with filling positions and low-income urban and rural areas hit hardest.
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Between 20% to 40% of teachers, according to the new research, leave the profession in the first five years, a figure that rises to 50% in some school systems, especially those such as Moore’s school that serve low-income and minority students.
At the same time, fewer prospective teachers have entered the training pipeline, a decrease of 75% over the last 10 years, Darling-Hammond said.
Even though school funding has improved with the economy, the supply of new teachers has not kept pace with those leaving, including many who are retiring.