State educators launch recruitment-and-retention center to tackle Alaska teacher shortage

A group of state lawmakers and education leaders in Juneau outlined plans to expand recruitment and retention efforts for Alaska teachers and launched a new statewide hub, the Alaska Educator Recruitment and Retention Center, aimed at coordinating hiring, onboarding and training across the state.

The center, described Tuesday at a luncheon presentation hosted by Representative Andy Story, will take over administration of Alaska Teacher and Personnel (the state teacher placement platform) from the University of Alaska and serve as a hub for the TRR (teacher recruitment and retention) playbook implementation, organizers said.

The work matters, organizers said, because districts face high vacancy levels and hiring difficulty. "We are in the worst educator shortage in the history of Alaska and in the country," said Dr. Lisa Paradis, speaking for the Alaska Council of School Administrators, who framed the scope of the problem. Department and research figures presented at the event showed roughly 600 current openings out of about 7,000 teaching positions statewide and noted that Alaska teacher salaries were about 25% below the U.S. average on a cost-of-living adjusted basis (ICER data, 2022).

The center will run or support several practical functions now split across districts and vendors. Jennifer Schmitz, identified at the event as the center's director, said the center will operate job fairs (including a virtual fair scheduled for April 5), provide daily technical support for the Alaska Teacher and Personnel platform, and act as a centralized agency to help districts with international hiring paperwork and onboarding. "We are going to be the person who meets applicants at the airport, gets them down to the Social Security office to get them a card," Schmitz said, describing hands-on support intended to help recruits complete certification and begin work.

Organizers stressed international hiring is already a substantial component of the applicant pool: when the center began managing the platform it found that 66% of active applicants were from other countries. Schmitz said that reality has informed efforts to standardize agency practices, reduce financial and paperwork inconsistencies between private recruiters, and provide classroom-management and cultural-competency training for international hires.

The center and its partners will also convene local leaders and practitioners. A steering committee will implement the TRR playbook, identify successful local programs for wider adoption, and coordinate training and apprenticeship pathways. Dr. Barbara Adams, who led a governor's TRR working group and has helped develop the playbook, described additional strategies under way: teacher registered apprenticeship programs, a planned statewide exit-and-stay survey developed with ISER, principal registered apprenticeships with regional sponsors, and efforts to connect military skill certification with education pathways.

Representative Kevin Burke said legislators are drafting bill language this session to pursue a range of policy changes suggested by the playbook, from small certification adjustments to larger incentives such as loan-forgiveness tied to service. "We are putting together legislation this session to start that work," Burke said, adding the measure may take more than one session to pass.

Speakers framed the center as a coordination and service hub rather than a single policy fix. "There's no silver bullet," Dr. Paradis said; the strategy is to deploy many incremental changes in tandem — from streamlining certification reciprocity and supporting "grow-your-own" teacher pathways to running virtual job fairs and standardizing international-hire practices.

The meeting closed with an invitation for educators, district staff and legislators to join the steering committee and upcoming events; organizers circulated QR codes and sign-up links so districts and prospective applicants can connect with the center's resources.