Program targets math-teacher shortage

Just weeks after starting the school year with a shortage of math teachers, Renton school officials have announced that the district will partner with Seattle University in a new program aimed at increasing the number of certified instructors in the district's middle and high schools by 50 percent.

Twenty Renton teachers are to take a twice-weekly course led by Seattle U. professors at the district's administrative office beginning in November.

The program should improve the overall quality and number of math instructors in the district, Superintendent Mary Alice Heuschel said.

The teachers will be taught a range of topics from math basics to physics.

Successful completion would mean they could teach math in grades eight through 12.

Renton, like most public schools, has long struggled to hire teachers who are qualified to teach middle- and high-school math.

The reasons for the shortage are complex, Heuschel said. Tougher federal and state standards in math have played the biggest role.

Competition with private companies has also contributed to the problem, Heuschel said. Graduates who are skilled in math often go into higher-paying jobs outside of schools.

The scramble to hire is made even more significant because the district has increased the number of teaching positions in math to help students meet requirements under the No Child Left Behind Act.

The search to find certified math teachers has forced many districts to rely on substitutes, principals and underqualified teachers for its math classes. It's a problem Renton wanted to fix quickly.

"We couldn't wait for the state or universities to catch up to our demands," Heuschel said.

Heuschel, a former deputy superintendent at the state Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction and a member of Seattle U.'s advisory board, started working with the university faculty to forge the program eight months ago.

More teachers need to be qualified to teach math when they graduate from college, Heuschel said.

"Quite honestly, some of the lack of interest for young kids in the math is the gap in the training of our teachers," Heuschel said.

Teachers must meet a set of rigorous qualifications — typically a major or a minor in math — before they can become endorsed to teach eighth- through 12th-graders, a requirement many districts say is hard to fill.

Most area districts have been forced to hire teachers who are not endorsed in math. More often, though, they leave positions unfilled.

Even with active recruitment at area universities and colleges, three Renton math-teaching positions were unfilled at the beginning of the school year.

Seattle University will offer discounted tuition to Renton teachers at $100 a credit for the 20-credit math-certification course.

The district is working to get a grant from an area bank to make the program free for teachers.

Karen Johnson: 253-234-8605 or karenjohnson@seattletimes.com