With tight education budgets, it has become much harder to inspire smart and talented to students to consider education as a career. With many veteran teachers retiring soon, the need is growing.

“I’m going to go out on a limb and say probably there are fewer students going into education just because of the fear of it,” says Abbeville High School principal, Dale Barnes.

New research shows over the next decade about 50 percent of teachers will retire across the country, and schools will need to fill the slots. Yet, there aren’t many talented students pursuing a degree in education.

“The benefits have been eroded. There’s been so much negativity around public education and a lot of that wrongfully so. We’re doing some great things in education in Alabama, but a lot of times only the bad things are brought to light,” says Henry County Superintendent Dennis Coe.

That’s why the department of education is focusing on programs like TEACH ALABAMA and the Future Teachers of America.

“We’re trying to start more of those programs to recruit more students into the field through that. Once they’re exposed to what teachers actually do then they’ll know that’s what they really want to do or they’re really wanting to go into a different direction, but hopefully they’ll want to stay with education in training,” says Esther Hicks, education specialist with the Alabama Department of Education.

Local leaders say it may take more.

“I think we’ve got to focus on the positive things. We’ve spent way too much time focusing on the negative that’s presented to the general public is not a reflection of the majority of schools,” says Coe.

“We’re going to have to come up with some kind of incentive I think. The answer to that… I don’t really know. I think teaching is a calling. If you are not called to teach you don’t need to be in the classroom,” adds Barnes.

Students in FTA and TEACH ALABAMA earn high school credits while assisting veteran teachers in the classroom.