Many states in the past year have been struck with a recent teacher shortage. States like Florida and Oregon are experiencing a severe shortage of teachers, some of which have been going on for more than a decade. 

“Bureau Of Labor Statistics reports that in July 2022, there were around 270,000 fewer school workers than in January 2020. Data shows that 55% of teachers plan to quit their careers earlier than expected,” said GlobeNewswire.

It’s harder to find teachers when people value the flexibility and freedom that other jobs offer, such as the option to work from home. 

GlobeNewswire went on to explain that the lack of resources, low salaries, pandemic-related issues, and the changing regulations attribute to a lack of interest in entering the profession. 

“The State constantly introduces new regulations on what and how to teach. Low salaries mean teachers’ efforts and work are not recognized. Finally, the lack of proper resources is frustrating, and overall benefits must increase. Unfortunately, the current education system restricts innovation and leaves teachers with less power. The profession is not respected and doesn’t look appealing to young people,” GlobeNewswire said. 

The top ten states with the highest teacher shortage currently are: Florida, Oregon, California, Nevada, Hawaii, Michigan, Washington, Arizona, Kentucky and Tennessee. 

Public schools in many countries started out the school year heavily understaffed in certain areas of education, particularly in special education, transportation, and mental health services. Schools say that this is due to the pandemic, but many argue that this started before the pandemic.

“While many schools say that the COVID-19 pandemic has made it more challenging to fill positions, 20 percent of schools say that they were already understaffed before the pandemic began,” National Center for Education Statistics Commissioner Peggy Carr said.

This raises serious concerns not just in the present but for the future of teachers, students, staff and education as a whole. 

According to U.S. News & World Report, the narrative has been skewed but also contains legitimate concerns for the future of the education system.

“Schools have unfilled positions because they’re adding staff, not because teachers are leaving in droves. Schools of education report decreased enrollments and fewer students identify teaching as a career of interest,” said Laura Camera from U.S. News.

A 2021 Illinois Educator Shortage Survey found that more than half of the 663 districts surveyed had trouble finding teachers and substitute teachers.

“The massive shortages we are seeing are the result of many factors. Years of deprofessionalizing the field through inadequate pay; unstable long-term retirement benefits; stressed, overtaxed expectations on educators and schools; and unsafe, under-resourced work environments weakened the profession,” said Sharita Forrest, News Bureau Education Editor.

Unfortunately, schools are finding creative ways to cover unfilled teaching positions by using building staff and resources to fill these positions with temporary solutions.

“These temporary, desperate solutions will hurt our neediest learners by not providing them a high-quality teacher and by discouraging teacher persistence in the field,” said Shariah Forest from the Illinois News Bureau.

According to the Learning PolicyInstitute,  although there is a teacher shortage, there are some solutions to help this growing issue. 

“California school districts are increasing teacher pay, developing new hiring strategies and trying to ease teachers’ workloads by hiring more support staff.” 

In attempt to fix this shortage of educators, California has proposed solutions to this ever-growing problem. 

“To help ease that burden, California has budgeted nearly $170 million since 2017 to help current public school employees who aren’t teachers earn teaching credentials. They can get up to $25,000 to help cover tuition, books and testing costs. The grants have so far produced 511 teachers and could generate up to 7,620 in the coming years.”