Students head back to schools with dearth of teachers and staff
Breccan F. Thies
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Local governments are experiencing an employment shortage as students head back to class this fall, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The shortage is most acute among teachers and other school staff, putting pressure on districts to find contingency plans for being unable to provide certain services.
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Local government employment dropped significantly in 2020, going from about 14.7 million to under 13.5 million in just two months. While the number has climbed steadily in the past three years, employment has stagnated at under 14.5 million as of August.
Teacher and other school staff shortages in particular have put pressure on districts since the coronavirus pandemic, but data from Kansas State University professor Tuan Nguyen show that the teacher vacancy issue may be worsening, suggesting the pandemic is not necessarily to blame.
In the 2021-2022 school year, Nguyen and his colleagues found over 36,500 teacher vacancies in 37 states and the District of Columbia. However, updated data published late last month show over 55,200 vacancies.
The squeeze has been felt across the country as schools come back into session.
Rhode Island’s largest school district, Providence, is returning to class this week with more than 100 vacancies, causing some students to begin the school year with a substitute teacher, according to WPRI. This year alone, 217 teachers left the Providence teachers union, and only 55 departures were retirements.
“Any vacancy in classroom positions is filled by certified and uncertified substitute teachers,” district spokesman Jay Wegimont told WJAR. “We expect all classrooms will be covered for the return to school.”
The Western states are also experiencing shortages of school employees, ranging from custodial and nutritional services to bus drivers and teachers.
According to the Eugene Register-Guard, the West is home to some of the lowest teacher-to-student ratios in the country, with many states having about 55 teachers per 1,000 students.
However, Nevada has the lowest ratio of just under 44 teachers per 1,000 students, while California has just under 46 teachers.
To address the problem, some states, such as Oregon and California, have started accepting teachers with out-of-state licenses to fill positions.
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Teachers are not the only school employees seeing a shortage. In Albemarle County, Virginia, and elsewhere, many children cannot get bused to school because the county cannot find enough drivers to fill 12 vacant routes.
Over the summer, the school district sent out letters to nearly 900 families telling them they would not be able to provide a bus for their child to get to school.