Fellow educators, let’s start with three simple truths about this moment. Being a teacher is hard. The pandemic, coupled with other factors like low pay and stressful working conditions, have made being a teacher even harder. Even if these challenges are only temporary, a whole lot of really good people are still looking around and deciding they don’t want to…
Tag: Teacher Shortages
In Kentucky, We’re Getting Creative With Staffing Schools During This Pandemic
Everywhere you go, you see “Now Hiring” signs. A lot of companies are offering large sign-on bonuses for new employees. You know who also is in desperate need of “help” but can’t offer these same incentives? The education world. No matter what school district’s website you look at, you will see that they are hiring. They are hiring instructional assistants.…
Can “grow-your-own” programs help end rural teacher shortages?
“Why don’t people who live there, teach there?” That question, posed by this recent Hechinger Report story, is a troubling reminder of the unique, persistent challenges that rural communities face in staffing schools. Like rural America itself, teacher shortages are often discussed but seldom understood. Shortages occur less frequently than the average observer may speculate, and when they do, it…