LEESBURG, FL (970 WFLA) -- There's a teacher shortage in Florida... and our state's education commissioner thinks current teachers get some of the blame.
At Tuesday's state board of education meeting in Leesburg, Pam Stewart said instructors who could steer students into teaching, are instead telling them to stay away.
"Our high school teachers are not encouraging our students to go into this profession," Stewart said.
Stewart says in the past, we could depend on out-of-state teachers to fill classrooms, but that won't be an option going forward.
Sumter County School Superintendent Richard Shirley says school districts throughout Florida have had trouble finding competent teachers. Shirley blames teacher testing requirements, the pressures of accountability programs mandated by Tallahassee, DROP (deferred retirement) limits, and salary limitations are among the factors drying up the flow of teachers into Florida schools.