In response to news coverage on school staffing over the past few weeks, I wrote a letter to the editor of the Asbury Park Press, which they printed two days later as an Op Ed commentary. Below is the original essay. -MAN
January 12, 2022
To the Editor:
Your recent articles on staffing shortages in schools were right on the money. In a December 2021 national survey by Education Week, one in four school leaders reported it as a severe problem. Sixty-eight percent of principals said that having enough personnel to keep schools operating was a major ongoing concern.
The scarcity of teachers has been attributed to a lack of substitutes, higher than normal retirements, people leaving the profession, and fewer studying to get teaching degrees.
Most would agree these are challenging times to be an educator.
A Rand survey last year found that one in four teachers planned to leave the field, a thirty-three percent increase compared to before the pandemic. The researchers attributed this to stress over work conditions, personal health, student well-being, technology challenges, and caring for families during work hours.
While much of the problem can be directly or indirectly tied to COVID, a January 12 Asbury Park Press article (“Jersey Shore Districts Sue State Over School Funding Data”) reminds us there has been another factor eroding staffing and programs, even before the pandemic: decisions by state leaders. While the legal fight to unveil the new formula for distributing state school aid continues, nearly a third of NJ school districts has lost millions every year since 2018. The funding decreases have already forced thousands of staff cuts and program reductions.
For schools continuing to lose state aid, COVID has been hitting a person when they’re down.
Federal stimulus dollars, which have largely focused on virus hygiene and virtual learning resources, are not part of the larger solution. Such funding cannot normally be applied with much discretion, in most cases allowing districts only to “supplement, not supplant” budgetary spending. That rule seemed to have been lifted in mid-December by Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, who advised schools to use federal COVID money to hire staff. But that’s a non-starter.
No responsible school leader uses temporary dollars for permanent needs.
Left with no alternatives, many have had to do just that– and then cut those staff or programs a year or two later, actions unlikely to inspire more to join the profession. Though the reward of making a difference in children’s lives may be enough to sustain many, educators ought to be able to concentrate more on doing their jobs than wonder if they’ll still have them. And students and families shouldn’t have to worry whether a great teacher will still be around or if a class will be offered next year.
Learning during the pandemic is challenging enough without schools having to fight for funding.
If we want to address teacher shortages, if we want the best and brightest to join “the profession that makes all other professions possible,” let’s get serious. A real plan must include:
- predictable, consistent, and fair funding;
- a living wage to make employment more competitive;
- a greater degree of autonomy;
- the professional status and public regard befitting the critical role of education in our society.
For there to be any chance of that happening, we need stable and informed leadership in Trenton that understands learning at least as well as politics. That has to start at the Department of Education, which for years has had a carousel of head administrators who jump off the ride not long after being seated. (It’s an ominous sign that the DOE didn’t bother to send a representative to last week’s senate hearing on the impact of COVID on schools.)
If we don’t have the courage, skills, and leadership to identify and understand the problem, then we surely can’t hope to fix it. Educators know what to do, and when they don’t, they have the wisdom, experience, and commitment to children to figure it out. Let’s encourage our politicians and their appointees to get on that same page.
References
Camera, L. (2021, December 16). Cardona to school districts: use pandemic aid to blunt staff shortages. U.S. News & World Report. https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2021-12-16/cardona-to-school-districts-used-pandemic-aid-to-blunt-staff-shortages
Goldberg, E. (2021, April 27). As pandemic upends teaching, fewer students want to pursue It. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/27/us/covid-school-teaching.html
Koruth, M. (2022, January 6). Experts at hearing: NJ education during COVID pandemic ‘heartbreaking’. DOE officials didn’t show. NorthJersey.com. https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2022/01/06/covid-nj-state-new-jersey-education-heartbreaking/9120028002/
Lieberman, M. (2021, December 9). The school staffing crisis won’t end any time too soon. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/the-school-staffing-crisis-wont-end-any-time-soon/2021/12
Oglesby, A. (2022, January 12). NJ hides info on how state school aid formula is figured, Shore districts tell judge. The Asbury Park Press. https://www.app.com/story/news/education/2022/01/12/new-jersey-shore-districts-sue-state-over-school-funding-data/9168423002/
Rodriguez-Delgado, C., et al. (2021, November 23). Schools across the country are struggling to find staff. Here’s why. PBS NewsHour. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/schools-across-the-country-are-struggling-to-find-staff-heres-why
Steiner, E. (2021, June 15). Job-related stress threatens teacher supply. Rand Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA1108-1.html
Zimmer, D. (2022, January 10). NJ teacher shortage made worse by lack of certified substitutes. Here’s what we know. The Asbury Park Press. https://www.app.com/story/news/education/2022/01/10/nj-teacher-shortage-substitutes-njea/9126283002/
Image of newspaper stack from Tim Mossholder at https://forward.com/artist/tim-mossholder-unsplash
