The U.S. DOE annually designates teacher shortage areas for purposes of deferment of loan repayments or reductions of teaching obligation. On February 4, 2020 the Department of Education requested input regarding designated teacher shortage areas for federal reporting. The Department would like to thank all those who submitted information related to teacher shortage and, because of public input, will be proposing the following as K-12 teacher shortage areas for the 2020-2021 school year:
- Early Elementary (K-3)
- Early Childhood (Pre-K)
- Teacher of Students with Disabilities
- French
- Spanish
- Health
- Theater
- English – Second Language
- Mathematics
- Middle Level Science
- Physical Science
- Life Science
- Latin
- Italian
- Visual Arts
- Gifted/Talented
- CTE (Firefighter/EMT, Automotive Mechanics, Truck, Automotive Body Repair, Diesel Engine Mechanic, Carpentry, Marine Maintenance, Electrician, Computer Info Services, Machine Toll Oper/Shop, Weld Braze Solder, Building Maintenance, Plumbing, Agricultural Prod. Gen, Allied Health, Nursing Asst., Law Enforcement, Forestry Prod & Proc., Food Production Manager, Child Care/Guidance, Business Admin/Manager)
The Maine Department of Education received additional input regarding Specialist and Administrative certificates, not currently covered by this provision, but will be investigating the possibility of inclusion in the shortage report in the future.