In case you missed it… Last week Bridge magazine published a series of articles detailing one of the concerning consequences of our state’s teaching shortage—uncertified substitute teachers filling long-term and permanent roles in our schools.

Please share this important information with friends, family members, and your community: Our students pay the price for failures of leadership on the issues of teacher retention and recruitment.

According to the analysis of state data from Bridge, last school year more than 2,500 Michigan classrooms were led by long-term substitutes who weren’t certified teachers – a stunning tenfold increase in just five years that threatens to hobble efforts to improve the state’s K-12 public education system.

Last year at one charter school in rural north central Michigan, 44 percent of its teachers were uncertified full-time substitutes — more than the region’s six traditional school districts combined, according to state data.

In this Q&A, the dean of University of Michigan’s School of Education argues the situation should concern everyone in the state.