As a result of the shortage, some schools have been hiring underqualified educators.

“If you’re underqualified, students tend to do worse on achievement tests, and they tend not to learn the content at the same level as they would if they had a better-qualified teacher,” Ed Fuller, an associate professor in the Department of Education Policy Studies at Penn State’s College of Education, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “It limits the opportunity of those children going forward in terms of going to college or choosing a college major.”

Schools moving to a 4-day week is a shift that needs to be evaluated to see the academic impact on children. Some experts believe other solutions should be explored to tackle the current teacher shortage.

“The best way is to pay them better,” Columbia University’s Teachers College professor Aaron Pallas told CBS News. He added that Missouri teacher salaries are among the country’s lowest.

The teacher shortage, though, is an issue occurring nationwide.

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