The shortage of qualified teachers in the US is well known. Next week, Missouri Southern and Crowder College will sign an agreement to help prepare more educators for a career in the classroom. KRPS’s Fred Fletcher-Fierro has more.

Missouri ranks dead last in teacher salary in the US. With salaries for starting teachers 20% less than the national average or about $33,000 a year.

With stats like that it may come as no surprise that earlier this year, the Missouri Department of Secondary and Elementary education estimated that five percent of all teacher positions were either vacant or filled by individuals not fully qualified.

In an effort to train more teachers, MSSU in Joplin and Crowder College in Neosho will sign an agreement for 2 + 2 teacher training.

In a press release Wednesday, Lorinda Hackett, interim dean of the College of Health, Life Science and Education at Southern, said, “The difference here is that the agreement will provide a more seamless transition from a 2-year to a 4-year institution and complete all of their requirements in four years.”. A signing ceremony will take place next Tuesday at MSSU.