Well-Being of School Community: School Shortages and Unsustainable Conditions

As teacher shortages continue to impact districts across the country, educators are frustrated with the measures being taken to remedy the crisis. These fixes include lowering teaching requirements for incoming or substitute teachers, assigning classes to support staff and larger class assignments. Frustrated with what they perceive as unsustainable conditions, educators are calling out policymakers and elected officials for allowing these conditions to continue.

  • “The teacher shortage is creating a domino effect. Those left are being assigned larger classes, more duties, and less time to get any of it done. A cycle of burnout and we’re truly not ready for what’s coming.” —Educator in Nevada
    • “And I’ve never seen so many teacher absences due to illness within 3 weeks of school resuming. Completely unsustainable.” —Educator in Nevada
    • “Unsustainable with unintended consequences, or maybe they are intended 🤔 It’s unrealistic and intentionally obtuse to dismiss and/or ignore the social and emotional well being of the educator workforce. Performative measures like ‘go do yoga’ are just 🤢” —Educator in California
    • “And they keep making policy decisions without input from us. Ok.” —Math Teacher in Indiana 
    • “EXACTLY! My district transferred an interventionist to a regular classroom & she is actively looking for a new job out of teaching & will leave midyear since they screwed her over…” —Elementary Teacher in Colorado
      • “This happened in my district too with interventionists that were hired to support teachers in ELA instruction.” —Educator in Nevada
    • “I keep hoping that as teachers leave, policy makers will realize that they need to make a change but nope .. more & more keeps getting piled onto an overflowing plate.” —Former Educator in Florida
    • “What’s even wilder is I, a newly graduated teacher, have applied for over 80 teaching jobs across my state. Got maybe ten interviews. Rejected from all. And then I see the job application open two weeks later. They’re also not actually hiring new teachers. It’s dual. Horrible.” —Teacher in Florida
    • “Once again, the ‘teacher shortage’ has been created by decades of mistreatment by admin, unreasonable paperwork and tests by the states, and continuous overwork and underpayment of staff. We (society) are doing it to ourselves and it’s intentional.” —Former Math Teacher in Pennsylvania
      • “You left out political attacks on schools and educators… Those too. Sadly, repeatedly demeaning the profession works.” —Post-Secondary Educator in Colorado
  • “@SBECalifornia, @CADeptEd @TonyThurmond CA, pls consider extending sub limits to give students stability w/ current #TeacherShortages. Seriously feeling impact w/ 2/7 unfilled positions in my dept. (one unfilled since March) & 3rd for my maternity leave.” —High School Math Teacher in California
  • “With the teacher shortage & persistent divestment in lower income communities… We need to be honest about the situation. There are many teachers that aren’t yet skilled enough to be in front of our babies. We got to do different, like yesterday.” —Educator in California
  • “Saw a story on @WCVB re: national teacher shortage. Unfortunately, 🏫 districts are taking a narrow approach—waving certification, AI lesson planning… We can argue merits/risks of these, but at a minimum, we need to look at working conditions, pay, public perception of teaching.” —High School Teacher in Massachusetts
    • “Honestly, the list of things we need to address in public education in order to attract and retain teachers could be pretty long. Those are just the top three that come to mind in this moment.” —High School Teacher in Massachusetts
  • “​​How bad is the teacher shortage near you? How does it compare to other years? —Former Educator in Minnesota
    • “Bad. I’ve never seen Special Education stretched so thin and asking so much of the people who choose to stay. Not sustainable, and likely…illegal.” —Middle School Special Education Teacher in Alaska
    • “My district (in South Louisiana) pays a lot better than surrounding districts so we are able to fill most spots, but still, a lot were last minute. The surrounding districts are hit hard.” —STEM Teacher in Louisiana 
    • “In Michigan, it’s not so much teachers as it is bus drivers. Woefully understaffed.” —Educator in Michigan
    • “We have over 600 openings, and crowded classrooms…” —Elementary Teacher in Washington, D.C.
    • “It’s the worst it’s ever been in Iowa.  Numerous jobs unfilled in districts of all sizes.” —Teacher in Iowa
  • “Head’s up; if you like kids and have any free week days, most schools are desperate for subs in all kinds of roles. If teaching or running a classroom isn’t your jam, consider cafe workers, secretaries, bus drivers, custodial staff. Many schools have bumped up pay for subs, too.” —ELA Teacher in Michigan