Since 1990, New York State has reported a teacher shortage for certified bilingual teachers. It, along with Texas, are the only two states that have faced a shortage for the last quarter of a century. The shortage is so dire, that in serve its multilingual learners, schools are placing teachers that are not certified to teach bilingual education in bilingual classrooms, jeopardizing the quality of education multilingual learners receive.
According to a 2017 report by the New York State School Boards Association, over 10% of teachers in bilingual education classrooms in NYS, excluding New York City (NYC), were not certified. In fact, in regions such as the Genesee-Finger Lakes area, uncertified bilingual education teachers in bilingual classroom settings were as high as 25%
Note: The years listed are the start of the school year. Teacher types include ESL, bilingual education, and dual-language education. Each MLL indicates that the percentage of the State’s proposed teacher shortage areas may not exceed the automatic designated limit of five percent of all unduplicated full-time equivalent (FTE) elementary and secondary teaching positions in the State.
