The Blue Ribbon Commission on Teacher Recruitment and Retention was in Chillicothe Thursday evening to meet with educators, administrators, community members, and concerned parents and talk about how to keep teachers in the classroom and bring new teachers to join their ranks.
Missouri Board of Education President Charlie Shields and Missouri Commission of Education Margie Vandeven were two of several speakers. Shields says teacher retention is a major issue.
Vandeven says Teacher Pay is a big issue! Missouri is at the bottom for starting teacher pay.
That $38,000 starting salary would make Missouri competitive with the surrounding states. That could help with the recruitment of out-of-state teachers considering Missouri.
Several other topics were also discussed and KCHI will continue to cover those over the next few days.