The closure of The College of Saint Rose — a key institution for educating teachers in New York — in May comes at a time when schools across the state are struggling to recruit and retain teachers.
Facing mounting financial problems, Saint Rose’s Board of Trustees voted to close the school on Thursday. School officials held a community gathering on Friday afternoon to officially break the news to students and staff, and were met with high emotions and anger.
The school’s closure also means the Capital Region is losing the only bachelor’s degree program to teach high school. Russell Sage College has a program to teach childhood education from birth to ninth grade.
Assemblywoman Pat Fahy, D-Albany, said she has already been in conversation with a deputy commissioner at the state Department of Education.
“That is the program we must look at, because we don’t need to lose any more potential teachers here. They are the single largest producers of educators in the state. It’s shocking when you think about it,” said Fahy, who also chairs the Assembly Committee on Higher Education. “I mean, we absolutely must have an education program, a bachelor’s of education in this region. Students should not have to go to Buffalo for God’s sake to get an education degree, at a time when we need educators more than ever. So, I think, there’s many possibilities here, public, private and nonprofit for them. So, all conversations have already been underway on that front.”
Indeed, 24-year-old Saint Rose student Keisha Aliza, a sophomore, had transferred to the college this semester in order to get a degree in teaching.
“I decided a few months ago. I was working at a tattoo shop, and I decided I’m going to go back to school, get my degree in teaching, because I work as a teacher’s assistant. And, you know, the school was supposed to be a really great school for that,” Aliza said. “For me, I wanted to already move down to North Carolina, South Carolina. And I feel like this is just a sign to just move down there, get a job and start fresh, start new. And then, if it’s meant for me to go back to college, then I think I will. But, I think, right now, I just need to, I need to figure it out, because there’s not enough time to figure it out, and I feel like that’s just not fair.”
The potential loss of education students also comes as the state faces a looming teacher shortage. According to New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), enrollment in the state’s teacher education programs has declined 53% since 2009. It also projects one-third of teachers could retire in the next five years.
NYSUT President Melinda Person said the closure of any institution of higher education is a tragedy, however, New York does have teacher prep programs in place throughout the SUNY system.
“We are prepared to welcome all those interested in going into the profession. Right now, we’ve seen enrollment in teacher prep programs drop off really significantly, which is likely one of the reasons that so many institutions have suffered financially,” Person said. “In the last two years, we’ve actually seen the numbers of students enrolling in teacher prep programs tick up a little bit, so there is some hope and a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Person said the climate for educators over the last 15 or so years has changed dramatically.
“We’ve sustained a lot of folks in the public realm disrespecting the profession. We’ve had the implementation of an evaluation system that really de-professionalizes teaching. And so, we’re climbing out of that,” she said. “We are making changes, we are building back the public perception of educators and the profession. And so, I think we’re going to see things turn around, but we did have a really rough period there for a while.”
New York is not the only state facing this problem. The U.S. Government Accountability Office issued a report last year that found more than three-quarters of states are experiencing a teacher shortage, which was also exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Person said the union, which represents more than 600 educators statewide, has developed new efforts to encourage young people to go into the profession.
“We have ‘Grow Your Own‘ programs in schools all around the state, encouraging middle school and high school kids to go into teaching,” Person said. “We also are doing what we can to support diversification of the profession, because that is another big goal of ours, to take a look at teaching effort. For a while there, I would have been much more pessimistic about the situation. But, as I said, the interventions that we’re taking seem to be working and I think, for a student right now who’s considering going into teaching, there are plenty of options of places to go. I think, what’s the saddest part is so many of our members are graduates of Saint Rose. The alumni, you know, it can’t feel good to know that a place that you loved and learned is going away.”