Alabama is facing a looming shortage of registered nurses.
In the next five years, around 40,000 nurses are expected to leave the workforce, in addition to others potentially leaving from COVID-19 burnout, or because they are pursuing different careers.
Martha Dawson, former president of the National Black Nurses Association and associate professor of nursing at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, is inspiring children to consider nursing as a career choice by introducing the association's Mini Nurse Academy program at elementary schools.
"One of the things that we were finding is that if you don't do it early with them, they then fail to take the correct courses when they enter junior high and high school," Dawson explained.
She pointed out the program aims to provide a comprehensive introduction to nursing, health equity, common health issues, and the adoption of a healthy lifestyle. The eight-week program is specifically designed for students in 3rd to 6th grades attending schools in underserved areas.
Dawson noted the goal goes beyond getting students interested in nursing. It also seeks to help diversify the workforce. Studies show just 8% of nurses are Black and only about 10% are men. She emphasized it is important to have a diverse staff who can address health disparities, cross language barriers, and build trust.
"Those nurses can provide more culturally congruent care," Dawson stressed. "That's one of the things that we really want our patients to feel comfortable with. Everyone talks about health and equity but in order to address health and equity, there's so many other things that we have to address before people become healed."
She hopes the Mini Nurse Academy program will expand, allowing more students to envision a health care future. The idea, initially launched as a pilot program in Birmingham, has now expanded to 10 other schools nationwide.
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The shortage of educators and school staffers has reached a crisis level in some Pennsylvania public schools, prompting a new "Educators Rising" program, which aims to recruit future educators from local high schools.
Ten schools are already participating, with students attending the Central Westmoreland Career and Technology Center to develop teaching skills.
Donna Rain-O'Dell, workforce education coordinator at the center, said in the "Grow Your Own" program at Mount Pleasant High School, the students gain hands-on experience by observing and assisting teachers in classrooms a couple of days a week.
"We actually have some of our students going into classrooms that are teaching small group or mini-lessons," Rain-O'Dell explained. "Like, one student is teaching Spanish I, when she's a Spanish III student; and then we have a student, that's in AP Bio that's helping with the biology class. So it's kind of cool, and it's definitely a unique situation."
She pointed out next year, they will start their first "college in high school" course at the University of Pittsburgh Greensburg campus. Keystone State schools are struggling to fill more than 5,500 vacant teaching positions.
Rena Enterline, vocational rehabilitation counselor for the center, said they partner with The Learning Lamp and Shippensburg University and students can earn nine credits toward higher education.
"That is more of a dual-enrollment type class," Enterline noted. "They will take classes through Shippensburg University, and they'll actually get a transcript through them. And then, they can take those credits and use them at any university that will accept them when they decide to go to college."
Enterline added current seniors will not have been in the program for two years but can still use the credits they earn this year through the dual enrollment opportunity.
Amanda Funk, CTE instructor at McCaskey High School in Lancaster, said hers is the only Lancaster County high school to have an in-house career and technology program. It attracts a diverse group of students who help out in elementary schools as juniors and seniors, eventually extending to middle schools.
"The goal is to bring them back and they get a guaranteed interview after college in our district and then they'll have that added support," Funk stressed. "Part of our job description is to actually mentor them through their college years. And then once they come back and get a job in our district, to mentor them there as well."
Funk added one lesson in the Educators Rising curriculum focuses on anti-bias instruction. She observed students have personally thanked her for classroom discussions on the topic.
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Lagging salaries have meant teachers in Ohio and across the nation are experiencing a 5% drop in purchasing power, according to a new report by the National Education Association.
Last year, state lawmakers approved a 17% raise to the base annual salary for teachers, from $30,000 to $35,000 and agreed to fund the second phase of the state's Fair School Funding Plan.
Scott DiMauro, president of the Ohio Education Association, said the changes are silver linings but argued Ohio has more work to do to alleviate shortages and retain educators in the field, emphasizing state investment for teacher pay should be a priority.
"I think there's a disproportionately high reliance on local revenues," DiMauro explained. "That would be dollars that come from local tax levies, as opposed to from the state to fund our public schools. "
Around the country, 1,300 school districts around the country saw starting teacher salaries reach or surpass $40,000 during the last academic year, Nearly 500 school districts now pay beginning teachers a starting salary of at least $60,000 annually, according to the report.
DiMauro added collective bargaining states continue to rank highest in the nation when it comes to educator salaries. The starting salary of teachers in states with a bargaining law is around $1,600 more than in states without a bargaining law and top pay is more than $1,200 higher.
"That's not by accident," DiMauro asserted. "Collective bargaining states have average salaries that are 26% higher than non-collective bargaining states."
According to the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute, teacher pay has sharply declined compared with the pay of other college-educated workers. On average, teachers made around 26% less than similarly educated professionals in 2022, the lowest level since 1960.
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Special state funding for mental health staff at Michigan public schools during the pandemic is ending this year, leaving schools scrambling to find ways to keep the professionals in the building.
The $240-million grant started in 2021, as students coped with challenges, from virtual learning and canceled sports to losing a loved one to COVID. Now, districts are seeking alternatives.
Diane Golzynski, deputy superintendent of business, health and library services for the Michigan Department of Education, said the options include a program known as the School Mental Health Apprenticeship Program to encourage people to choose mental health careers by giving them financial support.
"To pay folks who need to do their supervised practice internships in order to go into this field; it's to give them a small wage, so they can actually do that," Golzynski explained.
She pointed out districts can also apply for Medicaid matching funds for all their eligible work is eligible and use those dollars to keep mental health providers in schools.
Golzynski stressed the goal is to build a comprehensive school mental health system.
"We don't want to just put professionals in the schools, we want to put professionals in the schools that the schools need, because there's different types of professionals," Golzynski noted. "It might be a psychologist, it might be a counselor, it might a social worker, it might be a school nurse."
She emphasized her department is also working with the districts on how to best use their mental health staffers.
Critics might counter it is parents' responsibility to take care of their children's mental health needs. But Golzynski countered it is often in school where these issues are flagged or acknowledged.
"It's the schools partnering with the families to help support this child, so that the child can be the best learner possible," Golzynski asserted.
Golzynski added another school mental health funding program on the table offers a per-pupil allocation to each district.
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