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Ever since the Soviet Union launched Sputnik into orbit on Oct. 4, 1957, America has been struggling to recruit and retain STEM teachers in its public middle and high schools.

In the 2017-2018 school year, . At the middle school level, there were about .

The situation has been getting or so. For instance, in the 2011-2012 school year, 19% of public schools were unable to fill a teaching position for biology or life sciences. By the 2020-2021 school year, that number had grown to 31%. The situation was similar for other subjects, going from 19% to 32% for mathematics, and 26% to 47% for physical sciences, such as physics, geology and engineering.

Science shortages were a problem even before Sputnik, but the launch served as a wake-up call. Three months afterward, President Dwight D. Eisenhower stated during his that federal action was necessary to educate more science and mathematics teachers.

As a 鈥� and also as a 鈥� I have examined the STEM teacher shortage from multiple vantage points. In a September 2023 policy paper, a colleague and I recommend that in order to solve America鈥檚 STEM educator shortage, elected officials and education leaders should .

We think endowed chairs have the potential to retain and attract more STEM educators at the K-12 level, but it requires a willingness to rethink the ways that schools employ STEM educators.

What鈥檚 behind the gap?

Two factors contribute to so many unfilled vacancies in STEM education:

1. There are fewer college students graduating with a bachelor鈥檚 degree in education that ever before.

Between 1959-1976, bachelor鈥檚 degrees in education were the in the United States, and they accounted for about 20% of all degrees. Between 1975-2021, the percentage of students majoring in education .

2. STEM graduates can earn more money outside of education.

When STEM majors go into a STEM career, . When STEM graduates become a math, computer science or science teacher, they will earn, on average, .

This salary gap between STEM professionals and STEM educators is what is known as the STEM teacher 鈥�.鈥�

According to a national survey of teacher salaries in 2017-18, , regardless of years of experience.

But this only tells a portion of the STEM teacher salary story. In 2021, 鈥� about $660 less than the $2,009 earned weekly by other college graduates.

Prior efforts to close the gap

Since developing a strong STEM workforce is vital to the nation鈥檚 security and economic well-being, several U.S. presidents have used their position to advance a STEM education agenda.

For example, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, Eisenhower
and Congress that the nation needed to focus on what takes place in the classroom space 鈥� not just outer space.

The Senate and House passed the , and Eisenhower signed it into law on Sept. 2, 1958.

This set in motion a for American colleges and K-12 schools for decades to come.

Fifty-three years later, President Barack Obama utilized his to advance the national STEM agenda. 鈥淭his is our generation鈥檚 Sputnik moment,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd over the next 10 years, with so many baby boomers retiring from our classrooms, we want to prepare 100,000 new teachers in the fields of science and technology and engineering and math.鈥�

Through the leadership of 100Kin10, now named , the initiative .

But the was to narrow the gap, not end it.

A shortage of STEM teachers remains. According to a survey of 53 states and territories, 39 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands had , STEM disciplines included, as of Feb 9, 2023. One additional reason for the current shortage is that public schools 鈥� 233,000 instructors 鈥� between 2019-2021, which included STEM teachers.

Currently, President Joe Biden is , the Department of Education has dedicated , and the National Science Foundation is .

The endowed chair as a potential solution

Federal investments in programs and fellowships to produce more STEM teachers are good. But those alone will not be enough to retain and attract the quality STEM educators we need.

That鈥檚 why a colleague and I for K-12 educators.

Traditionally, an endowed chair is a funded through annual spending from a university鈥檚 endowment fund.

The interest earned on the endowment will partially or fully fund the salary of the position for as long as the university exists. Endowed chairs are .

The benefit of an endowed chair is that it will be paid for decades to come by the interest on investment. In our paper, we suggest that K-12 schools could use endowed chairs to support a K-12 STEM teacher鈥檚 salary, benefits and professional development, all the while saving money for the district and state.

If structured right, the interest on the endowment will pay a teacher鈥檚 salary and benefits, something the district would subsequently not have to pay. The endowment can be used to purchase STEM supplies. The money saved by the district can be used to invest in another teacher. The money could come from private individuals, corporations or foundations.

An endowed chair could also provide funding for teachers and students to have access to state-of-the-art learning technology. As part of the endowed chair contract, a teacher can participate in a fully paid externship at a STEM-focused public or private sector company during the summer months. The goal would be to bring to the classroom the experiences and insights the teacher learned from the externship.

An endowed STEM chair salary may never outpace what educators could earn if they entered the private market. But it can potentially help elevate their position and, perhaps, enable educators to make a salary that would be higher than what it would otherwise be.

This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .

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