Kansas Self-imposed Teacher Shortage

I find the article “Wanted: Teachers in Kansas” so sad because Kansas could’ve avoided this situation 7 years ago. One of the reasons Kansas has a difficult time keeping home-grown teachers is Kansas under-funded it’s schools once NCLB went into effect in 2001. As a result, most school districts, on the eastern side of the state, did not renew untenured teachers. Many of those teachers were then expected to reapply for positions without moving on the pay scale. For example, I worked in USD XXX my first year of teaching and in the Spring of 2002 that school district didn’t renew 48 teachers in the district including me. In a letter from the District Office, it was explained that the district didn’t have 48 bad teachers but “the district could not afford to pay the next step on the pay scale for untenured teachers”. But do not fear, the letter assured parents and teachers, “those fired teachers can reapply for their same positions as new hires but don’t move up the pay scale”. Isn’t that one way the Kansas Board of Education promoted itself to have teachers work in the state? Apparently so, because nothing was said about the state-wide layoffs.  Being untenured, I’ve been down-sized three times (with three different Kansas school districts) because of this cost-cutting tactic.  My teacher reviews are excellent but when it comes to money, being untenured means being disposable.
     Eastern-side school districts from Atchison county down to Linn county were cutting costs by doing hiring freezes or letting go expensive but untenured teachers (these teachers tend to have lots of experience in other districts or have advanced degrees, etc) and replacing those experienced teachers with fresh-from-college rookie teachers so the starting pay would be lower–but where did those new teachers go?  Other professional fields, or greener fields in other states.  At the expense of the quality of education in the state, the Kansas Board of Education and school districts using this “slash and burn” tactic are getting their comeuppance. 
     Yes, I did stop working in Kansas because obviously there was no job security in Kansas; as a teacher I only earned low-pay and high insurance costs but couldn’t be the bread-winner of my family without first working a night job. All it took was a rumor of not enough money, and untenured teachers scrambled to update resumes or look for new work–I’ve seen it and it was terrifying and stressful. Yet districts are allowed to do it and the Kansas Board of Education wonders why there are teacher shortages.
     Working in Missouri means I make more and Missouri districts don’t believe there is a long-term benefit to firing teachers in large numbers just to cut costs short-term, unlike Kansas. 
     I am against Kansas simply raising teacher pay because that still doesn’t stop Kansas school districts from firing teachers for the sake of cutting costs.  Address this issue first: how districts lay off one of its valuable resources to save costs without touching expensive administrators or sports.