When school systems thought 2020 was difficult and unpredictable, they never saw 2021 coming. The Washington Post recently ran an op-ed titled, “Who would want to be a teacher right now?” and news about teacher shortages are everywhere. There are certainly many factors creating this situation, but here is a perspective worth considering. If some school environments are bad enough that districts have trouble paying teachers to show up for class, should children be required to go to these schools when they aren’t being paid at all? Should children be stuck in schools where no one wants to work?
Emily Donaldson and Valeria Olivares at The Dallas Morning News had similar questions and began investigating North Texas schools and their staffing shortages. They were told by education experts that the shortage of teachers was due to burnout from an already exhausting profession, fears about COVID-19 and other job opportunities. But this could also be interpreted in other ways. Burnout from an exhausting profession can be interpreted as difficult student-to-teacher ratios and overwhelming classroom management issues. Fears about COVID-19 can also be interpreted as a lack of safety measures and support at a school.
Surprisingly, the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggests that teachers are not actually leaving the profession in record numbers. According to Chad Aldeman, an education labor market analyst at the Edunomics Lab, the number of people who had quit, retired or were fired hit a 20-year low this year. Instead, teachers appear to be weighing their options. Many teachers have better options in this job market, and they are taking them. This is leaving the least desirable schools unable to hire, and the students stuck in these schools in an increasingly bad situation.
So, what does school look like for students in North Texas with teacher shortages? Children go to school in a classroom where a district staff member handles classroom management and technology, and then a virtual teacher, hired by a private company, gives daily lessons on the screen in the classroom.
Lancaster Independent school district started the year without seven middle school teachers and ten ninth-grade teachers. Offering even $10,000 stipends in some searches, the school still struggled to recruit teachers. They literally couldn’t pay people (extra) to work there.
The conversation begs the question - If parents had the option to send their child to another school, would they? If they could build relationships with an in-person teacher rather than send their children to a glorified daycare with educational videos, would they move? Our guess is many families feel stuck and need the same freedom teachers have to find the best education environment they can.
What might that look like? Check out programs like this one to learn more about giving families better school options.
CITATIONS:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2021/09/27/pandemic-teacher-shortage-nationwide/