The public school system is hanging by a thread as staff are stressed, burned out and thinking of quitting more than ever before.
Why it matters: Staffing shortages are leading school districts to look for "bodies in a room to babysit kids" as last-ditch efforts to keep their doors open, one education researcher told Axios.
Driving the news: Districts in Texas, Idaho and Colorado are asking parents to fill in as substitute teachers, while officials in New Mexico asked the state's National Guard to step in.
In Kansas, an emergency declaration eliminated college credit hours as a requirement for substitute teachers.
Staffing shortages are made worse by a waning substitute teacher force, many of whom left the profession during the pandemic.
"Substitute teaching is not a profession for the faint of heart," said Julia Kaufman, an education policy researcher at RAND corporation.
Plus, low pay, minimal benefits and the overall view of substitute teachers contribute to the sub shortages, Myrtle Washington, a veteran substitute teacher in D.C. Public Schools, said.
"A lot of substitute teachers did not think it was worth it, risking their lives, in this city, for $15 an hour."
The big picture: Principals are stressed, too. "This has been one of the toughest years for educators ever," one principal said.
"Regardless of how we categorized principals, about 75% to almost 90% of principals ... reported that they experienced frequent job-related stress," according to a RAND Corporation report out this week.
Between the lines: The stress levels among female principals and principals of color were especially stark.
SasquatchSweater328 on January 29th, 2022 at 15:56 UTC »
Public school teacher here. The shit has hit the fan hard. Had to cover classes for my triple vaxxed colleague who came down with covid yesterday in addition to my own teaching schedule.. Out district has almost no subs. Teachers are coming down with Omicron in large numbers.
We are burnt the fuck out and no one is listening and I dont really think anyone cares at this point. People will just continue to call us whiners and complainers who work part time jobs or whatever other bullshit accusations the general public likes to hurl at us.
Send help!
theTenebrus on January 29th, 2022 at 14:03 UTC »
Just think: The industry already had 50% leaving in the first 5 years before the pandemic. And that wasn't the red flag it should have been. But here we are, like it's a big surprise.
frozenhawaiian on January 29th, 2022 at 13:27 UTC »
Wait, so you’re telling me that after years of treating teachers like shit and paying them peanuts people don’t want to do it anymore? Crazy!