Emma Goldberg
Kianna Ameni-Melvin’s parents used to tell her that there was not much money to be made in education. But it was easy enough for her to tune them out as she enrolled in an education studies program, with her mind set on teaching high school special education.
Then the coronavirus shut down her campus at Towson University in Maryland, and she sat home watching her twin brother, who has autism, as he struggled through online classes. She began to question how the profession’s low pay could impact the challenges of pandemic teaching.
She asked her classmates whether they, too, were considering other fields. Some of them were. Then she began researching roles with transferable skills, like human resources. “I didn’t want to start despising a career I had a passion for because of the salary,” Ameni-Mel- vin, 21, said.
Few professions have been more upended by the pan- demic than teaching, as school districts have vacillated between in-person, remote and hybrid models of learning, leaving teachers concerned for their health and scrambling to do their jobs effectively.
For students considering a profession in turmoil, the disruptions have seeded doubts, which can be seen in declining enrollment numbers.
A survey by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education found that 19% of undergraduate-level and 11% of graduate-level teaching programs saw a significant drop in enrollment this year. And
Teach for America, which enforcing mask use, coordirecruits recent college grad- nating the cleaning of the uates to teach in low-income water bottles that students schools across the country, brought to school because said it had received fewer they could not use the water applications for its fall 2021 fountains. In her first week, corps compared with this she received a call from an period last year. office assistant informing
Many program leaders her that one of her students believe enrollment fell had been exposed to COVIDbecause of the perceived 19 and that she had to help hazards posed by in-per- shepherd the students out son teaching and the diffi- of the classroom so it could culties of remote learning, be disinfected. combined with long-stand“This panic crossed my ing frustrations over low pay mind,” she said. “I thought: compared with professions This was what it’s going to that require similar levels be like now.” of education. (The national In some instances, remote average for a public school teaching has deprived eduteacher’s salary is roughly cation students of training $61,000.) Some are hopeful opportunities altogether. that enrollment will return At Portland State Univerto its pre-pandemic level as sity in Oregon, some stuvaccines roll out and schools dents were ot able to resume in-person learning. get classroom placements
But the challenges in while schools were operatteacher recruitment and ing remotely. Others were retention run deeper. The given only restricted access number of education degrees to student documents and conferred by U.S. colleges academic histories because and universities dropped by of privacy concerns.
22% between 2006 and 2019, At the university’s Coldespite an overall increase lege of Education, there was in U.S. university graduates, a decline in applications stoking concerns about a this year, which the dean, future teacher shortage. Marvin Lynn, attributed to
For some young people, students in the community doubts about entering the hearing about the difficulteaching workforce amid the ties in training during the pandemic are straightforpandemic. ward: They fear that the job Applications may tick now entails increased risk. back up as schools return
Nicole Blagsvedt, an edu- to in-person learning, Lynn cation major at the Universaid, but the challenges are sity of Wisconsin-La Crosse, likely to outlast this year. felt a jolt of anxiety when she Educators had been strugbegan her classroom training gling with recruitment to in a local public school that the profession long before recently brought its students the pandemic began. back for full in-person learnIn recent years, about 8% ing. After months of seeing of public school teachers only her roommates, movwere leaving the workforce ing around a classroom brim- annually through retirement ming with fourth and fifth or attrition. National surveys graders was nerve-wracking. of teachers have pointed to
Blagsvedt’s role also low compensation and poor encompassed new responsi- working conditions as the bilities: sanitizing fidget toys, causes of turnover.
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