Dive Brief:

• Poorer districts are facing staffing shortages at two to three times the rate of their more affluent counterparts in Washington state, with a University of Washington working paper finding lower-income districts in particular were short on paraeducators, transportation workers, janitors, nurses, special educators and teachers for English language learners.
• Based on total job postings, the working paper finds districts are most in need of substitute and special education teachers. The positions with the next highest posting rates are elementary, ELL and STEM teachers, which come close to equaling the number of special education postings when added together.
• The research also shows the districts bearing the brunt of shortages tend to fall under "rural" or "town" classification, though urban districts are seeing the highest rates of STEM teacher vacancies.

Insight:

Pandemic disruption has amplified stress, workloads and other factors over the past two years, compounding pre-existing teacher shortages. A March survey of California educators found the pandemic created longer workdays for teachers, with 59% responding they felt the public misunderstood their workloads, and 20% saying they spent more time figuring out online platforms.

Staffing shortages and teacher burnout forced some districts in Washington state and Colorado to cancel classes during the week of Veteran’s Day because so many teachers had requested time off. The problem is only expected to get worse. A Rand Corporation survey released in June found a quarter of teachers are likely to quit their jobs during this school year.

Teacher burnout can be addressed by embedding self-preservation and self-care skills into teacher prep programs to set future educators up for long-term success. Similar to the "3 Rs" of learning, Lewis & Clark College teacher educators Lina Darwich and Alisun Thompson recommend aspiring teachers adopt the "3 Rs" of self-care. These include building "relationships to reenergize you," establishing "rituals to restore you," and having "reasons to remind you" why you chose this profession in the first place.

Districts can also take steps to help retain staff. Stephanie Burroughs, a K-12 curriculum leader and administrator in Massachusetts, suggests placing a higher value on teachers, increasing prep and grading time, and considering programs to forgive student loan debt after a designated amount of time. For non-teaching positions, such as bus driver and classified staff, districts can consider hiring bonuses, longer breaks and overtime for drivers who work both morning and afternoon.