Does anyone know where all the teachers have gone? Did they leave for the private sector? We need them back and quickly. How many classrooms across the nation currently have substitutes or non-certified teachers? Are you concerned? I know I am. I have teachers picking up extra classes due to the severe teaching shortage this year. This can’t continue much longer or the consequences will be severe. It seems like it got worse quickly after the recent Covid crisis.
Many companies are having issues staffing their work forces post pandemic. Smet et al (2022) states, “What we are seeing is a fundamental mismatch between companies’ demand for talent and the number of workers willing to supply it. Employers continue to rely on traditional levers to attract and retain people, including compensation, titles, and advancement opportunities. Those factors are important, particularly for a large reservoir of workers we call “traditionalists.” However, the COVID-19 pandemic has led more and more people to reevaluate what they want from a job—and from life—which is creating a large pool of active and potential workers who are shunning the traditionalist path” The author shares this chart which shows perhaps an even more troubling future.
Some say the pandemic caused people to go “YOLO.” If they aren’t happy in their jobs they are looking for ways to leave as the crisis made them realize life is short as many of them lost loved ones or were separated from loved ones for extended periods of time. Two of the top ten reasons that employees quit their jobs after the crisis were support for health and well being and caring and inspiring leaders. In fact, early in the Great Attrition, the author found that “exiting workers told us that relationships in their workplace were sources of tension and that they didn’t feel that their organizations and managers cared about them. In this latest round, respondents again cited uncaring leaders (35 percent listed it as one of their top three reasons for leaving)” (Smet et al 2022). Recruitment efforts after the Great Attrition, according to the authors, must be authentic and creative. This authenticity and creativity is most important for employers to keep in mind when recruiting because , “Workers know the difference, and they are voting with their feet” (Smet et al 2022). This is having a severe, negative impact on our schools as well.
Educators and government officials are concerned about the teaching shortage crisis that has been exacerbated by the recent Covid crisis. The root cause is multifaceted according to Hoppenfetdt, director of support services for a large Michigan school district. She states she has not seen anything like it in her nineteen years in the school district and that its impact to the school community is significant. Diglio, a teacher that came back from retirement to help with the shortage, stated “The very profession that takes care of children, that are responsible for making sure that their needs are met and that they are achieving at a rate that they can graduate and be productive citizens, we’re losing that workforce” (Genovese 2022). Weingarten, American Federation of Teachers president stated, “Teachers and school staff have been struggling for years with a lack of professional respect; inadequate support and resources; subpar compensation; untenable student loan debt; endless paperwork” (Genovese 2022). The article ends with Weingarten elaborating, “The pandemic, combined with the political culture wars, made the last two years the toughest in modern times for educators. On top of all of that, the unthinkable happened again, when gun violence took the lives of 19 students and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas,” she added.
In addition to fear of school shootings and fear of retribution from parents for being too political in classes, teachers are leaving the profession for careers in the private industry that provide them with more flexibility. “Burned out teachers are leaving the classroom for jobs in the private sector, where talent-hungry companies are hiring them—and often boosting their pay—to work in sales, software, healthcare and training, among other fields” (Dill 2022) Her reasoning is that educators are exhausted post Covid dealing with switching back and forth from online to in person platforms, working extended hours, and dealing with challenging parents, students, and administrators.
This shortage is affecting the entire nation. Deeply concerning to the author was the fact that, “During the last decade, we saw double-digit decreases — coast to coast — in enrollments in educator preparation programs. Part of that was due to the layoffs and lack of hiring that ensued after the great recession. But it was also due to other factors such as perceived low wages (or actual low wages in some states), de-professionalization of the field due to increasing external demands, such as the over-reliance on standardized tests, and changing perceptions of the societal value of teachers. Fundamentally, one could argue that it boils down to how society does (or doesn’t) show its appreciation for teachers.” In 2018, a 50 year old poll of public perception showed “ that for the first time in its history, a majority of respondents would not want their children to become a teacher.” Sadly, the author asks what we will do when there are no more teachers to appreciate. It is important to treat teachers with respect, ensure they feel valued, and return teaching to the honorable profession it once was. We can ill afford the consequences if we do not.
Sources
Genovese, D. (2022, August 11). Teacher shortages continue as the 2022-2023 school year kicks off: ‘we don’t have a workforce’. Fox Business. Retrieved October 30, 2022, from https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/teacher-shortages-continue-2022-2023-school-year-kicks-off-we-dont-have-workforce
Lane, Jason E. Opinion contributor. (2022, May 6). Teachers are quitting in droves: Appreciate them before they all disappear. The Hill. Retrieved October 30, 2022, from https://thehill.com/opinion/education/3479826-teachers-are-quitting-in-droves-appreciate-them-before-they-all-disappear/
Smet, A. D., Dowling, B., Hancock, B., & Schaninger, B. (2022, July 28). The great attrition is making hiring harder. are you searching the right talent pools? McKinsey & Company. Retrieved October 30, 2022, from https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/the-great-attrition-is-making-hiring-harder-are-you-searching-the-right-talent-pools
Because I am extremely concerned about the teacher shortage and I am currently researching the same topic, I found a new model entitled, The Next Education Workforce: Team-Based Staffing Models Can Make Schools Work Better For Both the Learners and Educators. The model was written by Carole G. Basile and Brent W. Maddin and more can be found here: https://www.aei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/The-Next-Education-Workforce.pdf?x91208. Perhaps, this is something we can review and discuss further. It reminds me somewhat of the classroom model at Henderson.
This is such an important topic. The under appreciation of teachers can also be traced to the ill feelings that students have against teachers during their youth. These perceptions sometimes carry into adulthood. An attempt should be made to recreate the image of teachers at the elementary and secondary level. This however, can only be achieved if teachers begin to see themselves differently.
This is such an important topic. I knew there was a decline in younger people going into teaching as a profession, but these last few years have shown us that the teachers we had (both new and veteran) are leaving at alarming rates. It concerns me that now schools seem to be placing anyone they can find into classrooms without the necessary training or certification – and that is even scarier! In addition to the teacher shortage, events like school shootings, increased emphasis on standardized testing, and the ill effects of Covid-19 have all had severe consequences on education and, therefore, everyone associated with schools around the country.