LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The Michigan Department of Education stated it was recently recognized for its work addressing the teacher shortage by the U.S. Department of Education.

State Superintendent Michael Rice shared Michigan’s progress in rebuilding what it has called the “teacher pipeline” at an Oct. 29 U. S. Department of Education event. The state of Michigan and mainstream media have long decried a teacher shortage in the state.

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But in Michigan, the number of teachers has increased from 76,235 in 2018-19 to 83,934 in 2022-23, according to the Michigan Department of Education. At that same time, student enrollment had dropped 1.51 million in 2018-19 to 1.44 million in 2022-23.

Ken Coleman, spokesman for the Michigan Department of Education, said there was a teacher shortage in certain areas such as special education. Coleman said the Department of Education was improving the pipeline needed to get more people to become teachers.

Coleman said the state has spent money on scholarships for future teachers, stipends for student teachers, student loan repayments, and tuition reimbursement for special educations teachers.

“Each district experiences staffing challenges in different ways,” Coleman said in an email to Michigan News Source. “Student enrollment fluctuations impact each level of the educational system (e.g., district, school, grade level, or classroom). A reduction in students generally doesn’t occur in one school or one classroom. Shortages are also more apparent in hard-to-fill subjects, specialties, and geographic areas.”

Coleman pointed to the increase in participation in teacher preparation program enrollment in the state. He stated that those programs went from 23,203 people in 2011-12 to 9,512 in 2016-17. That was a 59%” drop. Those prep programs have rebounded to 14,829 in 2021-22.