Critical Teacher Shortage
Along with the critical need to provide public safety and health care services, there is an urgent national need for teachers in public school systems.
A survey of Eastern Shore school systems shows vacancies for teachers and support staff. Of the Shore’s nine county school websites, Dorchester’s shows the most openings, while Somerset and Worcester just have three each. When total population is considered, Cecil, Queen Anne’s, and Worcester have the most openings per resident.
The causes of the teacher shortage are many and complex. Rand Corp.’s “2023 State of the American Teacher Survey” reports that “teachers were twice as likely to report experiencing frequent job-related stress and difficulty coping with that stress than the general population of working adults.”
The study’s findings say that teachers report improved well-being at the beginning of this calendar year. But 23% of teachers said they were likely to leave their job before the end of the school year.
The pandemic put stress on students. Many were forced into remote schooling that reduced the development of their knowledge and skills. In addition to learning losses, students’ social skills — essential to good classroom behavior and group learning — were diminished. Effective make-up instruction requires more teachers, not fewer.
Among adolescents, depression and anxiety are increasing which will reduce their ability to learn. Teachers are the first to observe mental health problems but cannot provide the needed care. According to one report, “Last year, according to the CDC, 37% of adolescents reported clinically high levels of anxiety and depression.” Most schools are not equipped with caregivers or facilities to reduce the harm done to their students. Along with poor mental health, disruptive behavior diminishes students’ abilities to learn. Hostile behavior and physical threats to teachers and students have increased.
A long-standing reason for teachers to look elsewhere for work is, of course, their low pay. According to a 2022 U.S. Census Bureau report, “Although teachers are among the nation’s most educated workers, they earn far less on average than most other highly educated workers, and their earnings have declined since 2010.
“More than 95% of elementary, middle, and high school teachers have a bachelor’s degree or more. In 2019, the average earnings of elementary and middle school teachers with a bachelor’s degree or more who work full-time, year-round was $53,800. For high school teachers, it was $57,840.”
Teachers decide to look for other work because their administrations seem unconnected with the classroom, because of a lack of autonomy in deciding what to teach, because of increased class sizes, because of extra duties added, and because of burn-out caused by poor work-life balance.
Pressures from outside the school have increased. In some districts, parents have tried to assert control over classrooms. Initially, parents wanted to have a say in whether covid masks were worn in school. Later, some parent groups tried to control what was being taught, especially about sex and race. Some claimed — incorrectly — that they had a legal or constitutional right to do so. Teachers are far better equipped than local agitators to decide what the school curriculum should contain and how that material is best taught.
If low pay is a major reason for teachers to quit, then the solution is to raise salaries. To attract teachers in math, science, and special education, bonuses could be paid. Many employers other than schools will pay well for people with math and science skills. Special education teachers must carry out individual education plans (IEPs) for their students, but excessive IEP paperwork means less instruction time.
To fill vacancies, states and school districts have relaxed teacher qualifications. Some teach subjects for which they are not certified. Some teachers without certificates or even without a college degree are in teaching positions for which they are not prepared.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore’s Educator Shortage Act went into effect this summer, offering financial support to education majors. It provides a $20,000 per year allowance to students enrolled in teacher preparation programs and requires two years of work in a Maryland high-needs school. But the Shortage Act is not just restricted to teacher candidates by including financial support for mental health professionals who will work in underserved schools. The Shortage Act at one point included a “grow-your-own” program to recruit local residents as teachers. That scheme should have been retained.
The state also offers Teaching Fellows for Maryland Scholarships to education students who pledge to works at schools with 50% eligible for free or reduced-price meals (FRPM).
Teachers matter. Among school-related factors, teachers matter more than other elements of our schools. Research done in the U.S. and around the world supports this common-sense idea. And, yes, teachers must be hired in the first place, before they can improve our children’s lives. The state educational establishment, both in Annapolis and in local education agencies, must in the first place decide to pay the necessary costs. In the words of an old bumper sticker, “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.”
Additional information:
Video report: “Empty Classrooms, Abandoned Kids: Inside America’s Great Teacher Resignation,” Agnes Walton and Nic Pollock, New York Times, Nov. 18, 2022
Jim Block taught English at Northfield Mount Hermon, a boarding school in Western Mass. He coached cross-country and advised the newspaper and the debate society there. He taught at Marlborough College in England and Robert College in Istanbul. He and his wife retired to Chestertown, Md. in 2014.
Common Sense for the Eastern Shore
