Reforming Michigan’s occupational licensing laws may solve teacher shortage, expert says
(The Center Square) –Reducing occupational licensing requirements may be one solution to reducing a growing teacher shortage as Michigan rebounds from the COVID-19 pandemic, one expert says.
Intermediate school districts and county superintendents across the state are trying to recruit more teachers.
Ed Timmons, an Economics Professor and Director of the Knee Center for the Study of Occupational Regulation at Pennsylvania-based Saint Francis University, told The Center Square that the evidence on licensing requirements and how they affect the quality of instruction is mixed.
“Is it better for students to have no teacher, or is it better to have a qualified teacher?,” Timmons asked. “Just because a teacher doesn’t meet the certification requirements, it doesn’t mean they aren’t qualified. I think the employer would be able to evaluate the credentials of the applicant and figure out if they’re a good fit.”
As of 2013, more than 20% of Michiganders work in a field that requires licensure, which has dispersed costs across consumers statewide, but concentrated benefits to already-licensed practitioners, Timmons said.
Occupational licensing raises both wages and prices in the market, he noted.
One of Timmons’ recent papers concludes that licensed individuals are almost 10 percentage points more likely to have borrowed for their education, and incur more debt than unlicensed workers.
“Among student loan borrowers, licensed graduates borrow about $12,000 (or 38.5 percent) more and have student loan debt balances about $7,000 (or 42.5 percent) more than unlicensed graduates,” the paper concluded.
“I have no doubt that students have some pause when they’re thinking about entering certain occupations if they require licensing, thinking about whether they’re going to be in a position to pay off all of their debt,” Timmons said. “That, no doubt, influences the occupational choice of aspiring workers.”
One Stanford study confirms this: “Results show that more restrictive licensing laws — in the form of certification tests required for initial licensure — may lead some first-year teachers of high input quality to opt out of the occupation.”
Specifically, licensed workers in low-paying jobs may suffer most among all licensed workers, Timmons’ paper found.
Most studies analyzing how licensing effects student test scores find no evidence of an effect, Timmons said, while one study found student test scores increase in high-income districts.
“If they’re concerned about the effects on quality of potentially reducing the licensing requirements, the evidence that we have doesn’t really suggest that there is much of an effect,” Timmons said.
To teach kids in a public school, someone must obtain a Bachelor’s degree, pass the Michigan Test for Teacher Certification for which they pay $50, and spend three years to get a professional education certificate, according to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
During the peak COVID-19 pandemic, Michigan leaders temporarily revoked similar licensing regulations for hospitals.
This could be a similar solution for the current teacher shortage, according to Timmons. He said 2020 has placed unique pressure on the labor market.
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