Clarksdale Municipal School District is training local high school students to become teachers as it confronts a severe staffing shortage. The district posted 40 teacher vacancies in July, the second-highest total in Mississippi last year, district officials said.
District leaders say the shortage often leaves students taught by substitute teachers for weeks. The approach of identifying potential teachers before they graduate tracks with recommendations from researchers and think tanks, and it also aims to diversify the local workforce. The National Council on Teacher Quality reports that nearly half of Mississippi public school students are Black, while about a quarter of the state’s teachers are Black, and that the gap has narrowed by only about 1.5 percentage points in the past decade.
The vocational educator preparation class is offered at the Carl Keen Career and Technical Education Center. Triccia Hudson, the center’s director, recruited teacher Candace Barron to lead the course in the 2021-22 school year to broaden the local pipeline. More than a dozen students at the center learn lesson planning, classroom management and district roles, Hudson said.
Students cited personal experience and role models for joining the class. “It was interesting to learn that it’s always been about helping people by spreading information,” said sophomore Khloe Reed. Leah Myles said she was inspired to help students with learning disabilities after watching her brother struggle. “Education has the power to change kids’ lives,” said sophomore Jamarick Davis, who credited assistant teachers for making a difference.
Candace Barron, a Clarksdale native who has taught 22 years — 18 in elementary and four in high school — said the course builds confidence and practical skills even for students who do not become teachers. Adrienne Hudson, who runs the Clarksdale-based nonprofit RISE, said the community must do more to cultivate educators and noted that some scholarship incentives and professional development opportunities have diminished. “We have to do better at cultivating the educators in our schools and communities,” Hudson said.
Jon Ross Myers is the executive editor and publisher of the Mississippi News Network, Mississippi's largest digital only media company. He can be reached at editor@tippahnews.com
