But my own reading of the Utah Foundation report, "Teacher Attrition: Why do teachers stop teaching in Utah and what policies will encourage them to stay?" concludes that the Utah student population is on the rise and its teacher population is on the decline.
In any case, its overall conclusions should serve as an excellent background for continuous discussion, public debate and political attention until the issues raised are resolved and plans put into practice.
As a senior citizen in Utah and a former teacher, I was disappointed, indeed puzzled, by the fact that nothing in the report touched on the subject of bringing back qualified and former teachers (retired, if you will - a term I feel needs to be redefined) into the classroom as a partial solution to the shortage of teachers.
Three recent articles in The Salt Lake Tribune, ("Teacher drain: A new look," by Nicole Stricker, July 17; "Proposal to ease shortage of Utah teachers questioned," by Sheena McFarland, Aug. 4; and "Four proposals for solving Utah's teacher shortage," an op-ed by Utah Foundation's Stephen Kroes, Aug. 5) also did not include this option as a way to reduce the shortage.
Like the many terms that refer to them, "seniors," "elder citizens," "the aged" or "older persons" are not easily defined. I am referring to people in their 60s or older.
The report stated clearly its concern about Utah's teacher shortage: "High teacher attrition can cause problems with educational quality, equity and efficiency."
And as it compiled thought-provoking data on teacher attrition, it made this cautionary observation: "Currently, there is no consistent statewide system for collecting information" about who is out there, so to speak, to help solve the problem.
That should not, however, deter us from exploring this partial solution to the teacher shortage.
I have a neighbor who, with his wife, just returned from South America, where they served as church missionaries. He is a senior, is fluent in Spanish, and is interested in teaching math and science at the grade-school level.
I have to believe there are many more like him, and population statistics seem to confirm this conclusion. Because of medical advances, public-health measures, better diet and exercise programs and greater affluence, the average life expectancy in America has gone from 47.3 years in 1900 to 77.9 in 2004. America's senior population is 36 million today.
A recent Time magazine noted that the "estimated assets held by Americans 65 and older, the most in history for that age group, is $15 trillion." Less encouraging, however, Time stated that 30 percent of this same age group said that "they don't have enough money to meet their basic living expenses."
According to a Salt Lake Tribune article ("Employees slow to adapt to retirees," by Eileen Alt Powell, May 19, 2006), a survey conducted by Merrill Lynch & Company found that 71 percent of adults hope to work in retirement, with many looking for part-time jobs or opportunities to move in and out of the workplace, perhaps during a period as long as 10 years."
Thus, on both ends of the 65-and-older age spectrum, we have a potential pool of motivated seniors who are either affluent and want to continue working or who are financially in need of work.
Surely, among these two groups, there are qualified individuals who can be tapped to teach and, therefore, eradicate some of the teacher shortage problems. Isn't the possibility worth looking into?
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* JOHN L. MITCHELL is a founder of Sogang University, recognized as one of South Korea's top three universities, and taught mass communications there. He is programs coordinator at Utah Food Bank Services.
