CSU Global program aims to curb Colorado's teacher shortage

Back-to-school season is in full swing! Yet as a new school year begins, many Colorado districts are facing an old problem – a teacher shortage.

According to the Colorado Department of Education, that shortage is worsening. Last year, there were more than 1,400 open positions in schools state-wide. However, a program with Colorado State University Global aims to help end the shortage.

"We support the teachers to support the kids," said Dr. Audra Spicer, CSU Global Provost. "We seek out partnerships with Colorado school districts to bring in their teachers and upscale them."

Spicer explained CSU Global is the country's first 100% online, fully accredited state university. Among its many programs are Masters of Science – Teaching and Learning (MSTL) and Principal Licensure (PL) degree offerings. By partnering with school districts around the state, busy teacher-turned-students can receive tuition assistance.

"We have 8-week courses, and we have new courses starting every month," Spicer told CBS Colorado's Kelly Werthmann. "This means teachers who are busy people with committed lives, professionally and personally, they can stop and start in and out of their coursework as they need."

That flexibility was an immediate appeal to Cara LaMark, an educator with Aurora Public Schools.

"I was like, 'Oh my God, I can go to school and pay for it without student loans [because of the partnership with APS],'" said LaMark.

LaMark has worked in education for more than a decade and never really considered moving into a leadership role until she was approached by a colleague at North Middle School to become assistant principal.

"She introduced me to the CSU Global program," she said, "It was available to me any time I had available… and as a teacher, mother of two kids… that convenience piece really made a huge difference."

Not only does the online university provide affordable and convenient opportunities for educators to advance their careers, Spicer explained it is also helping to curb Colorado's teacher shortage.

"We know that 95% of our MSTL completers stay in Colorado, working in our school districts," she said. "And 91% of our PL earners are still working in Colorado. We have partnerships [with school districts] from Denver, the Front Range, the Western Slope, and across the entire state. It's so important for Colorado that we have wonderful teachers who stay here."

Teachers like LaMark, a proud CSU Global graduate now promoted to assistant principal.

"I love this job," she said. "It's the best job ever, it really is."