The Covid Crisis is Compounding the Teacher Shortage in Schools

The Covid Crisis is Compounding the Teacher Shortage in Schools

The Wall Street Journal reported (12/15/2020) that school districts are recruiting parents as substitute teachers. Online class sizes are soaring to 50 students or more. Bus drivers are baby-sitting classes. Some school districts are allowing asymptomatic teachers who were exposed to Covid-19 to continue to teach.

Public-school employment November was down 8.7 percent from February 2020, and is at its lowest level since 2000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Several states around the country are loosening requirements for teaching credentials and are making it easy to teach in public school classrooms. Minnesota, Arizona, Utah, Kansas and Illinois have all revamped their requirements.  Teachers have quit, taken leaves of absence, or retired early and have been affected by staff layoffs of teacher aides and clerical workers.

My latest best-selling book, Who Will Teach The Children? Recruiting, Retaining & Refreshing Highly Effective Educators” addresses the teacher and administrator shortages and proposes solutions. (available from Amazon)