I recently received an urgent message in my email inbox that read: “…I am reaching out to inquire if you know of any teacher candidate who would be interested in a 4th grade teaching position….  I had a resignation last week and am looking to fill the position….  Any leads that you have would be greatly appreciated.”

This time of year, similar emails arrive in inboxes from around the state on a regular basis. Always professional, the senders do their best to sell their school districts while asking for a helping hand in staffing classrooms with qualified teachers.

School leaders in rural Colorado continue to experience serious and consistent challenges recruiting and retaining the educators they need. The reasons for these difficulties vary. Research demonstrates current experienced teachers are retiring at increasing rates, the number of students who are entering schools increases, and enrollment in traditional educator preparation programs is on the decline.

The above, combined with abysmal salaries and ever-increasing educator expectations, create a perfect storm making the teacher shortage harder and harder to ignore, especially in school districts that are located outside of the Front Range corridor.

The problem becomes more complex as the diversity and individual needs of the students learning in rural school districts continues to increase. Data reported by the Colorado School Finance Report Project states that about 7% of Colorado’s students qualified for gifted education services; 11% of students received special education services, and 41% qualified for free or reduced lunch during the 2017-2018 academic year.

Yet, the research suggests that teacher retirement and an increasing number of students entering school are not the only causes for the teacher shortage crisis in rural Colorado. Retaining current educators presents an equally challenging problem.

Current rural educators relocate for a variety of reasons. Some may leave the profession to get married or start a family. Others move to an urban district where salaries tend to be higher and housing may be more accessible. A lack of access to adequate medical care can also make moving to an urban school district a necessity. Every story explaining a resignation and move out of rural Colorado is as unique as the individual who tells it.

Fortunately, the difficulties facing leaders within Colorado’s rural school districts while they struggle to attract and retain educators for their students has not gone unnoticed within Colorado. Thanks to a variety of focused efforts across the state, rural school districts can entice both student teachers and individuals pursuing alternative educator pathways with a range of financial incentives.

For example, with funding initially provided in 2016 by the Colorado General Assembly, student teachers who complete their student teaching in a rural school district are eligible to receive a variety of financial incentives to make ends meet while paying tuition for the student-teaching experience. Similarly, individuals who have earned a bachelors degree and want to become an educator can apply for up to $6,000 of financial support to offset costs associated with becoming a licensed teacher in one of Colorado’s rural-serving alternative-licensure programs.

Financial support is also available to experienced educators in rural school districts. Practicing rural educators can apply for $6,000 of tuition support when they enroll in a graduate program that prepares them to teach concurrent enrollment courses.

Financial support and mentorship is available to rural educators who commit to become a National Board Certified Teacher. Further, teachers, administrators and specialized service professionals (e.g., school psychologists, school counselors, and speech therapists) in rural schools will be able to apply to the Colorado Department of Higher Education for up to $25,000 of outstanding student loan forgiveness in the very near future.

While the range of financial incentives to rural educators has dramatically increased in recent years, the amount of available funding is woefully inadequate. In the future, the General Assembly should consider providing additional resources to increase access to financial incentives to benefit more qualified individuals.

Investing in the recruitment and retention of rural educators provides the students in rural school districts with the excellent education they richly deserve.

Valerie Sherman is the rural education coordinator for the Colorado Center for Rural Education at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. She has 14 years of teaching experience in both K-12 and higher education.