Michigan students residing in the state’s poorest urban and rural school districts are 16 times more likely to have a teacher with temporary or emergency credentials than their suburban counterparts, according to a recently released two-year study by the nonpartisan research group Education Trust-Midwest (ETM).
Schools are forced to hire a temporary or emergency-credentialed long-term substitute when no certified teacher is available to teach a class.
Despite the use of long-term substitutes and out-of-field teachers, the shortage of qualified teachers often results in a reduction in course offerings, further diminishing the quality of education for underprivileged students.
Just under 3 percent of all currently employed Michigan teachers are substitutes working with emergency or temporary credentials. The figure is less than 1 percent in suburban, low-poverty areas, compared with 8 percent in poor urban and rural districts….