On Saturday, Selma City Schools Superintendent Dr. Avis Williams was part of a panel discussion concerning the shortage of teachers in the state.

While Williams and other panelists differed on certain views, everyone agreed that this a problem that impacts everyone.

In rural communities like ours, numbers show the struggles that we face.

According to the Alabama State Department of Education, a large percentage of rural teachers are using emergency or provisional certificates, which is issued to teachers with a bachelor’s degree without education experience in the area they’re teaching and who isn’t pursuing a full certificate, according to an AL.com article published earlier this year.

While others may view this as a problem, Williams views this as a solution saying that some of the best teachers in the Selma City School system come from non-traditional pathways.

Williams said it best when she said the main focus is to find adults who want to be an impact in a student’s life and that is really what is important.

Does that mean whoever has had a thought about being a teacher should automatically drop everything and go for it?

Not necessarily.

Ruth Busby, the dean of education at Troy University said a full state certification means a teacher has been vetted and has proven they can teach. Busby added other ways to become a teacher such as Teach for America are not as rigorous of a training.

Which means it is a lot of hard work.

Teaching isn’t easy and only a handful of people are truly in it for the right reasons.

It seems the biggest takeaway from the discussion this weekend was the need for certified teachers.

Becoming certified is a time-consuming ordeal and there needs to be the proper incentives to continue to increase your knowledge to be an effective educator.

Raises are a big thing and we agree with Williams that a more significant raise should be given to our educators.

They are all, after all, the people that begin to mold the future workforce and adults of our communities.

They should have priority assistance.