Wyoming Schools Face Teacher Shortage

Wyoming schools are suffering a bit of a teacher shortage for the upcoming school year.

In some cases, it's about finding people who want to work in some of Wyoming's smallest and most rural towns.

But that's not the main problem.

Stagnant salaries are among the reasons listed.

Just a few years ago Wyoming's teacher's salaries were around 25% higher than adjacent states.

But that number has not kept up and teachers, who don't make a lot of money as it is, will go where the money is better.

Wyoming legislators have approved bumps in salaries based on inflation. But even that has not kept up.

Legislators will take a look at school salaries in this next session for 2024 - 2025.

It's not always about how much money is sent to the schools. It's a matter of where that money goes.

Since Wyoming schools tend to be top-heavy, spending more on administration than some think they need to, the argument has been made that, perhaps, that is where the state and local school districts could find the money to attract more teachers.

Some jobs like finding a volleyball coach will not be seen as important as finding a good math teacher.

Just finding a person to fill a teaching job is not enough. Schools want to find someone who is good at the position they are being asked to fill.

Some years ago the state of Wyoming spent a lot of money on nice school buildings. But that is no longer seen as important as spending money on a good teacher to fill that classroom.