In Kansas, a lot of school districts are hurting for teachers. Some, in fact, have turned to recruiters in India, Spain and the Philippines.

“There just aren’t enough teachers,” said Martha Gage, director of teacher education and licensure at the Kansas State Department of Education.

The shortage isn’t limited to Kansas. “It’s everywhere,” she said.

Gage should know. She was elected Wednesday to be president of the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification.

Gage, who lives in Lawrence, is in Minneapolis for a four-day gathering of the association which is focused on how to address the nation’s teacher shortage.

The problem, Gage said, is twofold: low pay and hard work.

“We don’t pay teachers well, and we tend not to view them in a professional light,” Gage said. “It’s a tough job – it’s hard to teach.”

In Kansas, she said, one-third of the state’s teachers leave the profession within their first five years.

“Retention is a huge issue,” she said.

At the Kansas Association of School Boards, research specialist Jim Hays noted Wednesday that 19 of the state’s 296 school districts have wrapped up negotiations with their teachers for 2006-07.

Lawrence resident Martha Gage, pictured outside Topeka High School, has been elected president of the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification. Gage is the director of teacher education and licensure at the Kansas State Department of Education.

“That’s not a huge number,” he said, “but 11 of the 19 – that’s more than half – indicated they have vacant positions they expect to be difficult to fill.”

Math and science teachers, he said, are especially scarce.

“Keep in mind, in a lot of high schools the math department may be one teacher,” he said.

In Lawrence, School Supt. Randy Weseman said the district seems to be faring well.

“Math and science teachers are hard to find,” he said. “Physics teachers are really hard, but overall, we’re doing OK. We’re fortunate that Lawrence is still a community people find attractive. They want to move here.

“You get out west in places like Sublette, and they’re not as fortunate,” said Weseman, who grew up in the western Kansas town of Dighton, which is about 75 miles north and 25 east of Sublette.

Despite these and other drawbacks, Gage said, Kansas schools are top-notch.

“I think Kansas has an outstanding education system,” Gage said, “and it’s because we have so many wonderful teachers who are well-educated in their fields and who truly care about kids.”

Gage, who has a master’s and a doctoral degree from Kansas University, has taught at Ottawa University and Mid America Nazarene University.

She has been with the State Department of Education since August 1997. Her office oversees 22 college- and university-level educational programs for teachers.

The organization over which she will preside represents professional standards boards in all 50 states. The boards are responsible for the preparation, licensing and discipline of teaching professionals.