Southern Utah is facing an increasing battle in finding qualified teachers at the same time a lack of state funding has forced Southern Utah University to restrict the number of students admitted to its teacher education program, says SUU President Gerald R. Sherratt.
"To limit the enrollment, the university has had to adopt the highest entrance standards to teacher training of any public institution in Utah," said Sherratt in a recent statement. "Currently, admission to SUU's College of Education requires the highest grade point average and the highest ACT (American College Test) scores of any of the four public universities in Utah."Last year, SUU ranked third among Utah's public universities in the production of teachers. Utah State University produced 284 graduates who accepted employment as teachers, the University of Utah produced 184 and SUU produced 141.
Even with the restrictions on entrance to teacher education programs, the number of teachers emerging from SUU's College of Education has actually increased in recent years. Still, there is a growing fear in rural Utah that the supply will not be adequate to the demand.
"Rural superintendents, in particular, are concerned that it might become difficult to attract teachers to come to their schools if the number of teachers being produced by SUU remains the same," Sherratt pointed out.
Dramatic population growth in relatively nearby Clark County, Nev., where Las Vegas is located, is expected to increase the demand for new teachers from SUU. Currently, 18 new schools, including six new high schools, are being designed in the Clark County School District. Salaries for public school teachers in Nevada are escalating much faster than in Utah.
Rapid growth in the population of Utah's Washington County is also increasing the demand for SUU teaching graduates.
"Some rural superintendents in Utah are worried that if SUU's pool of graduates in teacher education is not increased, and Nevada is able to lure away a larger percentage of those SUU does graduate, the rural school districts will have difficulty hiring teachers who will remain in rural Utah," Sherratt said.
He also points out that of the 190 total teachers produced by SUU in 1990, about 100 - a little more than half - took employment in the 16 southern counties. The rest went to northern Utah or to other states.
"As northern Utah superintendents and those from out of state seek more and more of SUU's graduates, the pool of available teachers for the rural schools will shrink, especially if the number of education graduates remains the same," according to the SUU president.
SUU is the major source of teachers in Utah's southern counties.
"Of the 27 teachers hired in 1990 in Iron County, SUU provided 24, and of the 16 hired in Washington County, SUU provided 15," Sherratt said. "SUU provided five of the six hired in Kane County, 10 of the 12 hired in Millard County, four of the eight in San Juan, 12 of the 18 hired in Sevier, four of the six hired in Beaver County, five of the six hired in Grand County, and all of the teachers hired in Wayne, Piute and Garfield counties.
"It has been the experience of a number of the rural school districts that students who are educated in universities located in small towns have less `cultural shock' when hired to teach in a small town than those who graduate from urban institutions," Sherratt noted. "So, SUU is the primary source of their teachers, and those teachers have a better retention record."
For 94 years, SUU has been the primary source of teachers for southern Utah. The institution began as a teacher training college and has continued a strong emphasis on teacher preparation.