Teacher Shortage in America

Greetings, Vocal Community!

What many people may not be aware of is that I am also a full-time educator, and working in the classroom limits my time allocated to writing. I have been in the classroom for nearly two decades, and thought I would start sharing my professional thoughts and experience about a profession I spent so much of my life dedicated to. This will become my monthly series, with this month’s focus: Teacher Shortage.

There was a teacher shortage before the 2020 pandemic began, but post-COVID, the shortage appears to have grown. It is not only certified educators, but also substitutes, educational assistants, and other school officials. I began to ponder why there are so many schools lacking teachers, especially as more videos emerge on TikTok and Instagram regarding malcontent with a profession I once was very passionate about. Some common reasons are: low salary, and extraneous workload.

Low Salary

Depending on which state an educator is employed in, the salary may be a major factor in recruiting and retaining teachers. Teachers, which are required to attend a four-year college program to become certified, are most likely one of the lowest paid professionals. There are many educators who need to reside with roommates, or work a second job, to be able to afford the cost of living because their salary is unable to cover rent, food, etc. To advance to a livable wage, most educators need to continue their education by attending professional development, or college courses related to their career. These opportunities must be taken outside of school hours and during an educator’s personal time (weekends or academic breaks). However, depending on a teacher’s state residence, it does not guarantee income will increase to a livable wage. If states are trying to recruit and retain classroom teachers, the annual salary needs to be moved above the line of poverty.

Extraneous Workload

When people think about the responsibilities of teachers, many will agree teachers must teach. Simply put: teach the next generation of citizens to read, write, and perform math. Additional academic topics placed in the hands of educators are: Science, Social Studies, Health, Physical Education, Performing Arts, Career and Technology Education, Social Emotional Education, and more. Presently, there is a divide on whether schools should teach social studies, as some states prefer their version of history over others. Religion, which was once part of the school curriculum, has fallen under scrutiny along with Science.

There are two main types of educators: The specialist and the generalist. The specialist, teaches one content to five or more classes, sometimes in different content areas, or skill level, while the generalist teaches one class of students in various subjects. Secondary education teachers are specialists, while elementary school teachers are generalists.

Most schools offer teachers roughly one hour of prep-time to assess student work and prepare lessons. However, this one-hour prep period is insufficient for most teachers. For a content specialist, assessing over 100 pieces of student work requires more than an hour, meaning there is no prep time for creating lessons. Meanwhile, generalist may use the hour to prep lessons, but there is no time to assess for work for all content areas. Additionally, many schools will schedule meetings, or professional development during a teacher’s prep-time. When this occurs, there is no time to assess student work, or create lessons for future instruction. This ultimately means, teachers are coerced into working from home to keep up with the constantly growing workload, or stay beyond contracted hours of a school day (for those who are unionized).

The lack of time at school to prepare lessons, or assess student work, may be the reason many teachers are burning out. Their workload never seems to lessen. When new teachers realize the lack of personal time, coupled with low salary, may be the driving force behind teachers leaving.

Conclusion

I understand when a person decides to join the teaching community, they are making an active choice to become a part of the profession. The most common response to what I have written will be: but you knew what you were getting yourself into. The truth: most new teachers do not realize what they are getting themselves into. It is not until the first paycheck arrives that the reality of being under-paid and overwork hits. If a teacher is single, this combination makes it difficult to justify staying in the profession, when there are various better paying opportunities with less stress. Meanwhile, veteran teachers are retiring because the workload continues to increase, leaving schools with vacant lines to fill. It is the tale as old as time: to recruit and retain teachers, offer a livable wage and lessen the workload.

Share your thoughts below. I welcome comments that are engaging and will add to the conversation.