Education is at risk with the teacher shortage — but are we really doing anything about it?

“They are leaving because teaching has been made unattractive and unsustainable. The drain won’t stop until compensation, micromanagement, and management through fear, de-professionalization, overwork, and make-work, and the politicization of curriculum are addressed.”

The teacher shortage is here! Schools across America are forcing students to take math and science classes online. I read recently that some schools across the country are also sending students home early and shortening the school day due to the teacher shortage. School is starting soon for many schools and administrators currently do not have teachers to fill many classrooms. Madison, WI for example just posted that they are in need of over 100 certified staff and another 300 school workers including bus drivers. The teacher shortage is a major threat to the future of education.

The question that anyone that is concerned should be asking is: what can we do to make being a classroom teacher more appealing to the current generation of children? I am not just talking about raising salaries and improving working conditions for educators although those would be two on my list. We have to think outside the box! The current world that we live in is much different than twenty years ago. Today, many careers allow people to work from home and that is very appealing to the current generation of young people. It simply allows for more flexibility and time for self. One thing that the younger generation does better than older folks is have a better work/life balance.

That question seems to not be on the mind of many and instead politicians all across America seem to be more interested in lowering the standards to become an educator. Richard Santos, the governor of Florida stated that he believes the standard to become an educator has been too high in the past. A college degree is no longer needed to be a teacher in the state of Maryland, and it appears many other states are going in this direction. Many states are also trying to entice retired educators to get back in the classroom.

I remember guest speaking to a group of aspiring educators and a young lady raised her hand after my presentation and asked if I thought salary had a lot to do with the teacher shortage. I stated that I believe that was part of it, but there are many other reasons as well. The general consensus amongst educators in America is that they are over worked, high stressed, and burnt out. This is perhaps the angle that we need to attack the teacher shortage from. What can we do to make educators feel more valued?

“There would be no teacher shortage if teachers were paid like professionals and treated like professionals”, states Dr. Brad Johnson. The belief by Dr. Johnson is that teachers are paid very poorly compared to other professionals and severely micromanaged overall and treated very poorly. Recent data has supported Dr. Johnson’s statement as teacher wages have remained relatively flat for the last 25 years. In 1980, the gap between teacher pay versus other college graduates was roughly $300. Since then, it has slowly been widening and today the gap is an astonishing $800. This will not help the teacher shortage!

• Those currently in education need to remember to stay positive while sharing their current struggles with the profession. When communicating education to others, we need to make sure to let others know what we love most about the job. For me, it is the daily interactions and positive influence that you have with the students that you work with.
• I think without saying, the salaries of teachers need to increase. Many young people are not pursuing education because other careers make more money and make more money much faster than teaching. According to data from the Economic Policy Institute, teacher salaries have not increased much since 1996.
• The workload for teachers needs to be reduced and teachers need to be given more planning time. Teachers have more work than many office jobs, but yet very little actual time during the day to complete the work. Many schools district have gone to 4-day weeks and have given teachers a full day each week for planning, grading, and getting back to parents. In general, teachers deserve as much time as they are teaching to plan every day. Schools across Europe go much shorter school days and give teachers a lot more planning time every school day.
• Overall lack of respect! I do believe that teachers are valued in our society. That said, I do not believe that teachers are well respected. There is a difference between value and respect! Teachers are valued in that most people realize the significance that education has on the future of society. At the same time, teachers are often talked down about and not nearly as well respected as other professions. In 2010, teachers lost their right to collectively bargain in the state of Wisconsin. During the pandemic, teachers were called lazy because they feared going back into the classroom and all while, other jobs had the convenience of working from home.

Erika Garcia, a principal had an excellent quote that hit the point home. “It’s not about teachers remember their why. It’s about leaders helping to remove the barriers so teachers can access their why”. Society expecting teachers to fix their own burnout is taking away responsibility from those that have control to resolve the issue. The teacher burnout is a very significant issue right now that will affect the future of society in many ways. If it is not resolved soon, the effects of it will damage education and the future of this nation for a very long time. It is time to quit pointing the finger at educators and start pointing it at those that can fix the issues.

So what can we do? It is a mystery that must be solved or education will be dead and that will have a drastic effect on society. Paying teachers like other professions, stopping the micromanagement, and supporting them rather than adding initiatives would be a place to start.