00:00witnesses. This is a really important topic. I think I have some Virginia teachers in the room,
00:04maybe some from Fairfax. They recently had a collective bargaining vote that I applaud you on.
00:12The title of this hearing is long. The piece I'm interested in is teacher shortages and everything
00:17that contributes to them. And you've all talked a little bit about that. My wife is a member of the
00:21Virginia State Board of Education, appointed by the governor to oversee K-12 schooling in Virginia.
00:27She's the last one on the board appointed by a Democratic governor. Everyone else on the board
00:32is appointed by the current Republican governor. But I can tell you the one nonpartisan issue they
00:36grapple with is teacher shortages all over the Commonwealth, all over the Commonwealth,
00:42particularly in high poverty schools. There was a study in UVA, out of UVA this spring,
00:4880% of all vacant positions were in the 20% of schools with the greatest number of vacancies.
00:55And those schools tend to be high poverty schools, which tend to be either within central
01:00cities or in rural Virginia. Some of the shortages are acute in some areas, special ed is a topical
01:06area where the shortages are acute, but they're generally acute in high poverty schools. The
01:11students who most need good teachers in the classroom are the students likely to be in
01:15schools with high numbers of vacancies. And I think you've all done a good job of kind of explaining
01:20some of the challenges. One thing that was not mentioned that I do think should be mentioned is
01:24teachers' fears for their own safety. Some of you touched upon it, but no one mentioned gun
01:28violence. Nobody mentioned gun violence. Teachers do active shooter drills with their kids. That
01:36wasn't the case when I was in school. It wasn't really the case with my kids. We're in the richer
01:39in public schools. It's the norm now. And a teacher said to me recently, we all do a moment of silence
01:46now. And I don't know what the kids are thinking about, but I know what every adult in a school
01:52is thinking about during the moment of silence. And it's let today not be the day.
01:58Let today not be the day. And that's got to be daunting for teachers and other adults who work
02:03in school systems, just like it's daunting for parents. My kids went to a, you know, an urban
02:10school system, probably 90% free and reduced lunch. I didn't worry when I dropped them off
02:15in the morning about picking them up at the end of the day. I didn't worry about it. And they,
02:21they finished school just 15 years ago, but this is something that parents worrying
02:24about. Now teachers worry about now kids worry about now. I was going to ask that question,
02:30Mr. Keyes, about the, uh, the, the pathway program, because I think that really is a solution.
02:36Senator Collins and I have a bill called the prep act that looks at grow your own, because if
02:40somebody has been a paraprofessional in a school system and has demonstrated the ability to
02:44compassionately deal with all kinds of students, but they don't have the credential yet to be a
02:48teacher, you know, they're going to be a successful teacher if you can get them to that
02:52credential. So I'm a big supporter of programs like the one you describe, and we do have
02:57bipartisan legislation to try to advance that here. Mr. Arthur, I wanted to ask you about a
03:02part of your background, which was national teacher certification. Dr. Kerwin talked a
03:06little bit about this, my experience in Virginia, but I'm wondering about the Utah experiences.
03:12Every once in a while in Virginia, we would do a one-time bonus for people that got national
03:17teacher certification, but then if the budget was bad next year, it would disappear. So you
03:22wouldn't get a continued salary bump. And the person who wanted to get board certified next
03:27year wouldn't have that incentive to do it. Um, I think while, while teacher salary is something
03:33that is primarily a state and local responsibility, I think it could at the federal level be a federal
03:39thing. We're talking about national certification. If we wanted a high percentage of our teachers to
03:43have national certification, that could be something at the federal level that would be
03:47smart to incentivize. Talk a little bit about, were you incentivized in Utah to do this? Did you just
03:53take it on because you wanted to do it? What was the Utah program under which you became certified
03:58and did it increase your salary? Absolutely, Senator. I receive a stipend every year, both
04:05from my district and my state. When I first, uh, went through national board certification,
04:11I did so just because I wanted to be better for children. I was motivated by what I was seeing
04:15in the classrooms of national board certified teachers. But when someone told me I would get
04:20paid more, I was like, okay, all right, that's nice. I won't have to ask my wife so much for
04:24money. And, and it's not, it's not much, it's not enough right now to move people into this. I
04:31get about roughly in Utah, about $4,000 extra year or every year because I teach in a title
04:36one school and I teach in a district that supports that. But not all districts do.
04:41States have different programs for this. So if there was a way to make sure that teachers across
04:45our country were all incentivized to become the most accomplished educator that they could be,
04:51the benefits to our children, the research shows would be profound. And Dr. Kirwan, again,
04:56remind me of in the Maryland plan, what do you do around board, national board certification?
05:00Yes. When a teacher becomes board certified, they get a, an increase in salary of $10,000.
05:08And that continues in their salary. It is independent of the year. That's part of their
05:13base, as long as they are board certified. So when they have to be renewed, they, they continue.
05:19And Senator Cain, it has, it's had a very interesting con consequence. I just learned
05:26today, in fact, that Maryland led the nation in the number of teachers who got board certified
05:34last year. Maryland is a small, relatively small state, 6 million people, but it led the nation
05:41more than California, more than New York. And I think that, that, that salary increase has been,
05:49obviously played a big role in making that happen. And, and if I could, it's a salary
05:53increase, but it's a salary increase for doing a lot of work that, that makes you a better
05:58teacher. And the salary increase, even in your case in Utah, where it's somewhat modest, it's
06:04a sign of respect. It's a sign of respect for the profession. And so I think that has a number
06:09of positives. And
