What if the teacher shortage isn’t really a shortage of teachers?
Host Mike Palmer welcomes Dr. James Lane, CEO of Unlimited Instruction (UI), formerly University Instructors. James started as a middle school band director, and went on to be a principal, a superintendent in three Virginia districts, Virginia’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, and the leader of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.
James argues that the teacher shortage is really a workforce design problem. The real problems are pay, a thin pipeline, poor retention and a confusing path to certification. UI tackles this through InstructEd Pathways, which grows paraprofessionals and alternatively certified candidates into fully certified teachers, and TutorEd, its high-dosage, in-person tutoring program. The two dig into several threads:
- Why AI should make teachers’ jobs easier, not replace them, and why UI is intentionally in-person
- Paraprofessionals as unsung heroes, and year-long coaching that works like “student teaching on steroids” for hard-to-fill special education roles
- Life after ESSER: don’t spend one-time funds on ongoing costs, and cut back on too many initiatives
- Leading with laser focus: Jim Collins’ hedgehog concept, a clear North Star, and using technology to find each student’s zone of proximal development
- Academic optimism: why teachers need to believe they matter, and how that belief may keep them in the classroom
Resources Mentioned:
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Palmer Media 2026-10-13 09:00:00
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