(THE CENTER SQUARE) – An Ohio senator believes continuing a national trend she’s championed for more than two years can help soften what education leaders say is a teacher shortage in the state.
Sen. Kristina Roegner (R-Hudson) spent the better part of the past four years reducing licensing issues and getting state compacts passed that allow doctors, nurses, physical therapists and other skilled professionals to get an Ohio license easier if one is held in another state.
Now, she wants to create a compact for teachers, which she believes puts Ohio ahead of other states and helps with potential teacher shortages.
“We might be able to bring more people into the workforce who are sitting on licenses that aren’t being used,” Roegner said. “This is a trend you’re seeing nationally for all sorts of occupations.”
A compact operates similar, but not exactly the same, to a driver’s license for states that pass similar legislation and join compacts. States could still have their specific requirements, but those would be less cumbersome that having to obtain a new license in another state.
Roegner used an example of a married couple moving into Ohio for the husband to take a job, and the wife holds a teaching a degree from another state. Creating the compact would make things easier to obtain an Ohio teaching license.
The potential compact has the attention of the state’s teacher’s union, which wants to work with lawmakers on ways to address what it calls a teacher shortage in the state – both currently and potentially long term.
“We’re still reviewing the bill. As it moves forward, we plan to be engaged in the process,” said Ohio Education President Scott DiMauro. “On the one hand, we know we are facing a need to attract more people into the profession. We have a lot of signs this educator shortage is going to get worse over time if there aren’t steps taken to provide incentives to get people into the profession and taking away barriers is one way. We just have to have a balance that removes unnecessary barriers that does not lower the quality and hurt students. The devil will be in the details.”
Being first, according to Roegner, gives Ohio the ability to establish the parameters of the compact. The current bill still allows each state to set its own standards.
“This is one piece and there is a much larger picture,” DiMauro said. “We are ready and willing to engage with legislators and policymakers from both sides of the aisle.”
Roegner has also introduced a bill in this session that would create a compact for physicians assistants, and she said she’s working on another for dieticians and social workers.
