US bracing for teacher shortage amid coronavirus pandemic
NYS teacher retirement system recorded a 20% jump in retirements this summer
Since the coronavirus pandemic has stirred up controversy and concern regarding sending students and staff back to school safely, more teachers than ever before are planning to retire.
Schools nationwide are noticing a large influx in teachers taking a leave of absence or retiring. According to the New York State teacher retirement system, there has been a 20% jump in retirements just during summer 2020.
BACK-TO-SCHOOL SEARCH FOR VIRTUAL SCHOOL SUPPLIES COULD LEAD TO DESK, CHAIR SHORTAGE
New Jersey’s Freehold Regional High School district was forced to go entirely remote after 250 teachers decided to take leaves of absence. District Superintendent Charles Sampson told FOX Business that the domino effect on remote learning is even causing issues with child care.
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“A number of districts elected to go all remote which then had sort of a cascading impact on teachers in our district,” he said. “We ended up with a few hundred teachers that unexpectedly, within the past two and a half weeks … were facing severe childcare issues.”
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American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten, head of the second-largest teacher’s union in America, told FOX Business that there are always teacher shortages in the U.S. but they could reach up to 30% higher “dependent on how a jurisdiction has handled COVID.”
Schools across the country are now scrambling to fill substitute teacher roles, who have also been in shortage, which questions the quality of education.