It is a “catastrophic” shortage for the washington post. The American daily explains that the country “has never experienced such a serious situation”. In terms of figures, no national database exists but there could be a shortage of thousands of teachers for the start of the 2022 school year. In Nevada, for example, 3,000 positions were vacant at the beginning of August, and in the school district of Houston, in Texas, between 1,000 teachers are still missing a few days before the start of the school year. Public schools are struggling to recruit.
The reasons for this shortage are many. First of all, there is the exhaustion of the teachers, in particular due to the Covid, the lack of consideration for the work of teachers and the salaries which are too low. In the United States, between 1996 and 2021, the average salary of teachers increased 15 times less quickly than that of people with the same level of education. Another reason: the fear of shootings that hit schools and each time upset an entire country.
Finally, American teachers are tired of the educational culture war waged by some states. States that pass laws to restrict what teachers can teach and say about racism, gender, homosexuality. Florida for example prohibits from the start of the school year to talk about sexual orientation, it is the law nicknamed “Don’t say gay”.
In the face of the emergency, temporary solutions have emerged at the level of the States and not of the whole country. Some manage to increase the salary and offer, for example, a moving bonus.
Georgia to recall retired teachers. In Texas, rural school districts have moved to a four-day week. In Arizona, which especially lacks math teachers, students will take online classes for part of the day. Nevada plans to group several levels and have classes in gymnasiums or auditoriums. Several states agree to hire university students who have not yet passed the teacher’s diploma. Finally, Florida asked war veterans to come and play teachers. Having the baccalaureate level is not required but you still have to pass a test in the subject you want to teach.
.@GovDeSantis on recruiting veterans to the teaching field: “Our veterans have a wealth of knowledge and experience they can bring to bear in the classroom. […] For too long, the requirements to be a teacher have been too rigid.” https://t.co/qgM3g485JT pic.twitter.com/iuXi4ZCZu3
— The Hill (@thehill) August 14, 2022
The unions are reluctant, believing that this lowers the level of education and that the children do not need it at the moment. In the United States, as everywhere in the world, confinements and distance learning have left their mark. And as the president of an educational association in Florida put it: “It’s not because you were in the army that you will make a good teacher”. Discipline is not everything.