Help Wanted
There is a lot of talk about teacher shortages in the 2023-2024 school year, as there should be. A recent survey by USA Today showed that 86% of public schools need help to hire educators, and nearly 9 out of 10 public school districts struggle to hire teachers heading into the school year, with many potential hires being deterred by low salaries.
With nearly half the country’s public schools being understaffed, schools need help. More importantly, students need help. If there aren’t enough educators, then student learning suffers. Additionally, the teachers who stayed in the field are experiencing extensive burnout.
Several educators left during or shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2023-2024 school year is now, and educators are still jumping ship. Teaching has never been a high-paying or easy job, so the big question is….why now?
Low wages, high workloads, and challenging working conditions are some of the reasons the education sector faces a teacher shortage. However, the problem is more complex than these surface-level issues.
Teachers are leaving the classroom because they are tired. That might sound too simplistic. However, academic researchers who have studied “burnout” have discovered that a lack of autonomy drives teachers out of the profession even more than stress and low pay. Nobody listens to teachers. When you factor that into low pay, high stress, and challenging environments, with a side of disrespect, these college-educated professionals are finding employment elsewhere.
Teacher shortages have been coming for a long time. Educators were leaving before the pandemic and are now going in droves. The solutions to every year’s teacher shortage make the problem even worse. The teachers who stay wind up doing more work for less pay and are rewarded with post-it notes and chocolate bars.
Many teachers are fed up, and they quit. With an ever-changing marketplace full of virtual and creative opportunities inside and outside of education, why wouldn’t they? More money, less stress.
There’s a long, long history of Americans undervaluing teachers. For most of the 19th and 20th centuries, it was seen as women’s work and, therefore, constantly trivialized. It’s been deemed honorable work for those with a “teacher’s heart” who want to make a difference. While that’s true, it’s hard to make a difference when no one listens to you. “It’s not about the money,” until it is. Educators don’t go into teaching to become millionaires, but they do need to be able to pay their bills and live.
What’s the solution?
Higher salaries, smaller classroom sizes, regulation change, less testing…that sounds easy enough, right? Unfortunately, there’s no magic wand to make that happen fast enough. It begins with the basics of respect. Respect teachers. Respect the field of education: respect educator’s time, effort, input, and their lives, inside and outside the classroom. We need good teachers to stay; after all, they are educating our future, and that’s a big deal.
Written By: Meredith Biesinger
Professional Writer/ Education Specialist
Meredith Biesinger is a licensed dyslexia therapist in Mississippi, in addition to being an experienced classroom teacher and K-12 administrator. Meredith also works as a consultant, where she bridges the bridge the gap between K-12 school districts and ed-tech organizations. With a passion for literacy, she is also a professional writer and syndicated author. With a M.Ed in Educational Leadership and a B.S. in English Education and Creative Writing, she has had rich and diverse opportunities to teach students and education professionals in different parts of the country as well as overseas.
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