Teaching Shortages

In Clemson College of Education wants to lower in-state tuition to curb the teacher shortage, the article states that

“Last school year, 6,650 South Carolina teachers left their jobs while only 2,170 students earned an education degree, according to the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention and Advancement out of Winthrop University.”

I’m very worried about the teacher shortages that we are going to face.

We are already short special education teachers. They are always in demand.

Now with Covid-19 and all the uncertainty, we really don’t know what we will have.

Some teachers don’t know if they have a job because we don’t know if parents will send their children to school, enroll in a virtual school, or do homeschool.

Some teachers are at the age where they can retire and the thought of learning new technology and teaching remotely is not something they want to do.

Some teachers are at an age or have health concerns that make them high risk and they don’t want to return to the school building.

They plan to transport students at 50% capacity. This is going to cause a rise in fuel costs because buses will have to run more routes. Our district is determining attendance by last names and not location so the buses may be running all over the county all day long picking up students. Depending on which time they are picked up, won’t students miss some instruction time? Teachers may find this an obstacle that they don’t want to face.

Some schools will be on a hybrid schedule where some students are in the classroom and others attend remotely. If half of the students are getting face to face instruction and the other half learns remotely on two days and then they flip flop the other two days, are they only getting half the instruction they normally would? Do all students have the necessary tools to attend school remotely? Are teachers going to be held accountable for a situation that is not in their control?

Will students be able to master the skills necessary to meet the yearly standards for their grades? Will teachers be held accountable if the students don’t meet the yearly standards?

The education future for our students is a scary thought. I’m not sure what the answer is but I just don’t see how a hybrid schedule is an answer. I also don’t think that virtual school for young children is going to be very effective in teaching all the necessary skills for the next grade.

Do you have any suggestions? Please share.

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash