A declining number of applicants for elementary teaching positions has prompted local administrators to pursue a comparable model to an existing program - Project SELECT - that accelerates the education and placement of non-traditional and mid-level professional workers into teaching positions in the state's high schools.

School districts have been watching the number of elementary teacher candidates decline over the years, meaning fewer qualified people to consider. In light of that, Black Hills State University and local administrators say an elementary model (named Project ELECT) of the accelerated program already in existence, should be developed to fast-track the education and placement of K-8 teaching candidates.

We agree, and encourage the state Department of Education to approve the necessary rules change that will allow Project ELECT to be developed.

At Rapid City schools, school Supt. Peter Wharton said at the high school level, Project SELECT instructors been successful. They shifted career and know they want to be teachers. That means there's a lower attrition rate and it also means their previous experience has given them a unique and valuable perspective.

The success at the high school level could be emulated at the elementary level.

The teacher shortage isn't a myth. Already the schools in South Dakota are facing the same reality every other business and industry in the state is: we enjoy a low unemployment in this state and folks aren't lining up at the door to get in.

There are other steps being taken to address the teacher shortages. Dr. Nancy Hall, Dean of the College of Education at Black Hills State University, said such things as the online delivery of the special education endorsement, financial incentives for graduates to work in low income districts, marketing efforts and setting and meeting enrollment benchmarks are in play to encourage more candidates into the classrooms

And then, of course, there is the potential development of Project ELECT that would help fill the needs at the elementary level.

We hope it does. If the program can put qualified, committed teachers into elementary classrooms, then it should be approved and implemented as soon as possible.

At this time, the state Department of Education must approve a rules change to allow potential teachers to (in preparation for certification at the elementary level) earn a teaching certificate rather than teaching degree before getting into the K-8 classroom.

After the DOE approves the rules change allowing for Project ELECT, the work begins with state deans - high school to college - to develop the guidelines for the program.

Anything we can do to encourage the best and brightest to enter the education arena and teach our children should be encouraged. Districts should have the deepest "pool" of qualified candidates possible from which to choose for the important positions of teaching.