ADDRESS NATIONAL TEACHER SHORTAGE

It’s not just that more than a quarter of current teachers have considered quitting because of the pandemic. College students are now much less interested in teaching careers.

What if we reopen schools, but there are no teachers?

I have known many K-12 teachers during my long teaching career. I have also been reading many articles and studies about teachers who have quit or plan to quit the teaching profession. The situation is so dire that The New York Times published an op-ed in August by middle school English teacher and author Kelly Treleaven headlined, “Get Ready for a Teacher Shortage Like We’ve Never Seen before.” In November, the Horace Mann Educators Corp. reported that 27 percent of teachers have considered quitting because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The shrinking teaching force opens the very real possibility that we may be able to reopen our nation’s classrooms, but we may not have enough qualified teachers to teach in them. Here are some of the reasons studies cite for why experienced teachers are quitting and young people are not choosing to enter the teaching profession.

Low salaries: The Economic Policy Institute reported in September that teachers earn about 20 percent less in weekly wages than non-teacher college graduates. This inequity has motivated many parents to discourage their sons or daughters from entering the teaching profession. The Center on Budget Policy and Priorities reported in 2019 that teachers earn less in 42 states than they did a decade ago. At the time, Business Insider reported, teachers were spending an average of $500 on school supplies with some spending as much as $1,000 in spite of these substandard salaries.

Workload: Some studies of teachers’ workloads have been based on the assumption that all of their work is done in the classroom. The most comprehensive study of K-12 teachers’ workloads was conducted by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The report, titled “Primary Sources: America’s Teachers on the Teaching Profession,” revealed in 2010 that teachers devote 90 minutes beyond the school day for mentoring ... then spend another 95 minutes at home grading, preparing classroom activities and doing other job-related tasks. According to this study, the average daily workload for K-12 teachers is 10 hours and 40 minutes.

Unsafe working conditions: The Hill reported that school violence is a fact of life for our nation’s K-12 teachers. The article states that “teachers are injured daily, sharing stories of being punched in the stomach while being pregnant, stabbed in the neck with a pencil and threatened with death.” Yet little has been done to protect these teachers in their classrooms.

Unsanitary working conditions: The Environmental Protection Agency warns that “Exposure to environmental hazards in schools can negatively impact the health of children and school staff. Unhealthy school environments can also affect attendance, concentration, and performance, as well as lead to expensive, time-consuming cleanup and remediation activities.” The Brown Center Chalkboard reported in September that these unsanitary working conditions are even more dire among our nation’s poorer schools and “reinforce educational inequities among marginalized students.” Studies have strongly suggested that the nation needs to embark on a massive remodeling and rebuilding program to make our schools safer for both children and teachers.

Lack of respect for teachers: The Varkey Foundation reported in a 2018 global study that surveyed 35 countries that the U. S. ranked 16th in respect for the teaching profession. Surveys repeatedly reveal a hierarchy of preferred career choices for young people that omits teachers. One list in 2017 by First Choice began: “YouTuber, blogger/vlogger, musician/singer, actor, filmmaker, doctor/nurse, TV presenter and athlete/teacher ... . ” Those of us who teach in American universities can attest that our students’ interest in K-12 teaching careers has dropped precipitously in recent years.

The pandemic should have taught us the value of our K-12 teachers and schools to our economy. However, the statistical data is accumulating that not enough young people want to go into the teaching profession, and experienced teachers are leaving it. As we strive to reopen our schools, we also need to address the disincentives that have created this national teacher shortage. We could reopen our schools, but there may not be enough willing, qualified teachers in those classrooms.

Clausen, a professor at the University of San Diego and the author of several books, lives in Escondido.