What's being done to address the teacher shortage in Michigan and last updated 2021-04-21 05:41:42-04 GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. â Itâs no secret that thereâs a critical teacher shortage in the state of Michigan, itâs a problem that has been growing for years. Wendy Winston is an Algebra teacher in the Grand Rapids Public School District and she says her students are not interested in becoming educators. âIf you survey them and ask them, you know, what do you want to do when you grow up? Very few of them are going to answer that they would like to be a teacher when they grow up. And when you ask them why? They'll kind of look at you funny and say that they see how we're treated and how hard we work and how little respect and reward we get for that hard work,â said Winston.