#teacher shortage

[allthecanadianpolitics]

Quebec's school year started on a familiar note: thousands of teaching spots were unfilled, and the provincial government had to defend itself for its failure to solve the problem. But as politicians continue to point to immigration — a common justification for the province's ills — as the main culprit, education experts say newcomers are not the underlying cause of the widespread teacher shortages. "There has been a significant increase in the number of children who need a teacher because of the explosion in the number of immigrants," Quebec Premier François Legault told reporters last week, despite also mentioning working conditions and salaries as other reasons the education system is lacking personnel.

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Tagging: @newsfromstolenland

[187days]

Bonus Day

The leadership team decided to meet one last time before the school year starts, so I went into work this morning. The Principal started the meeting with welcomes, and thanks, and then gave an update on the situation we're in because of the teacher shortage: having to cancel some courses or offer them online-only, having to increase enrollment in other courses... It's a tough situation to be in, and it's going to be challenging for all of us. But he's an optimistic guy, so he also expressed hope that we'll be able to hire teachers in the future, and then he went over the things we've got going for us: new courses, new supplies and technology, various awesome events and opportunities.

He also asked what we're looking forward to, and I obviously said, "Teaching APGOV during this election season!" Cue much banter about divisiveness and bounty money.

I should note that this was the first meeting our new Dean 2 was at, so that was her introduction to me.

We took one final look at the policies we'd drafted to present to the staff, made our last revisions, and adjourned. I had another meeting scheduled in the afternoon, so I spent the time I had in between getting my classroom set up. That afternoon meeting was a curriculum work meeting with Mr. I and our two new hires, Mr. X and Ms. B, who are all teaching American Studies. I helped them revise the unit calendar, and get started on detailed planning for the first unit, then I had to head to a dentist appointment.

It all starts for real on Monday!

[lesbiansandgayssupporttheminers]

I think, for a few years at least, we have been circling a tipping point in education. I think possibly covid put it off, for a few years. But now I think we may be hitting this point of no return, where a lot of schools are going to start the year in September with staff shortages, maybe not even with enough teachers for all their departments to function normally.

And there's every likelyhood things are going to get worse before they get better.

All I can say is that I feel sorry for the kids- living in a system that doesn't care about them.

[trayzen-the-infinite]

Ultimately the reason why I don’t support the writers strike is just because the whole thing feels greedy and self entitled and I mean on both ends, yeah Hollywood won’t give writers more money and would gladly let them starve but also those writers really don’t need that money. Do you realize how much Hollywood writers make? It’s more than I could make in a lifetime, more than most of you could make. The issues with streaming services should be addressed but that’s only one of the very small, barely a handful of issues. Sure the CEO gets paid much higher margins and yes we should talk about that as well, no one needs that much money. The Writers could easily live off of what they make extremely comfortably but the ones saying they can’t are saying it because they want to live beyond their means. In short the rich want to be richer. It’s rich elites fighting rich elites because both of them want to get richer at everyone else’s expense.

Meanwhile Teachers in America are quitting in droves. We’re in a shortage of teachers because many are quitting because of politicians and activists keep insisting on interfering with classes, the government refuses to pay them a living wage and schools aren’t being properly funded. Some states are already resorting to hiring students training to become teachers and paying their tuition to become qualified teachers while doing the job of qualified teachers. WE’RE HIRING UNQUALIFIED TEACHERS WHO HAVEN’T EVEN GRADUATED THEMSELVES TO TEACHER OUR CHILDREN!! In short being a teacher in America isn’t worth it because it means living in poverty while having political activists and politicians breathing down your neck. They should be the ones striking and they’re the ones that should be supported. Yet everyone is whining and complaining about entitled writers who haven’t produced a single good product in years and contribute nothing to society.

[troythecatfish]

[drboyland]

The State of Education 2024-2025: The Nation's Teacher Crisis Continues

Despite the widespread celebrations and jubilant ringing in of the New Year, there remains a distinct group within the American population who continue their search for reasons to celebrate and participate in the joyous spirit of 2025. While teaching is considered one of the most cherished professions in America, it is disheartening that teachers receive some of the lowest pay compared to other…

[michigantopnews]

Teaching Dreams? - 2 Virtual Michigan Teacher Job Fairs Are Worth Logging Into

Virtual job fairs in Michigan will connect educators with employers to address critical staffing shortages. Events are free and open to all education-related roles.

Virtual Michigan teacher job fairs in March and May aims to connect educators with employers as Michigan continues efforts to address critical teacher shortages. LANSING, MI — In a bid to tackle the ongoing teacher shortage in Michigan, the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) and the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity (LEO) will host virtual Education Workforce Job Fairs on…

[spedresources4all]

"Don't Send That Email!"

“Don’t Send That Email” is a meditation I wrote for myself, yet I imagine it could help others.  When I’m at work, I’m locked into a fast and efficient pace that makes it easy for my emotions to take the lead in decision making.  I can’t count how many times I knew I should wait to send an email but my emotional state was in the driver’s seat.  My hope is that by spending five minutes…

[oh-dear-so-queer]

To the average punter, the core of the story was 'homophobic Christians sack good teacher just because she's gay' – and this amidst a drastic, Australia-wide teacher shortage. By now you hopefully understand that I see this as a simplistic take that serves neither the Christians whose aim is to over God despite the cost, nor the LGBTQIA+ advocates who seek to redress the imbalance of power and fear of change that keep queer people on the outside. I can sympathise with Christians' frustration at having a caricature of their faith ridiculed by the masses just as I feel upset when Christians mischaracterise LGBTQIA+ people as licentious and broken.

"In/Out: A Scandalous Story of Falling Into Love and Out of the Church" - Steph Lentz

[lesbiansandgayssupporttheminers]

Teachers on twitter are playing a fun game of how many jobs are advertised in my subject on TES right now.

Bear in mind it's the Easter hols, which is traditionally not a time when there are loads of teacher job adverts out. And this is only the schools that are advertising on TES (which charges a lot of money).

Over 1000 science jobs, nearly 1000 maths jobs, over 500 geography jobs, nearly 400 history jobs (traditionally not a shortage subject). I'm sure the list goes on.

Last year, all the science trainees in my area had jobs by February. Some of these jobs won't get filled.

I've posted about this on twitter too, but it's easier to explain long form. This is what happens when a department in a secondary school isn't fully staffed.

The school tries to get in long term subject specialist supply, who's willing to plan/mark. This is a big cost for the school, and often it isn't available. This teacher can leave with no notice when something better comes up.

At some point, probably before October half term, the class end up being taught by day supply- so teachers in the department are asked to write cover work and mark work for classes that aren't on their timetable. This is a massive chore, and often the cover planning needs to be done daily. This creates excessive workload for teachers.

Someone goes off with stress or is ill or the school can't get day supply, so then teachers get asked to do cover. In theory, there are rules about when teachers can be asked to cover, but it's very hard to say no to the "just this once" pleading. This further increases workload, because you lose your PPA/non-contact so get behind with planning/marking etc.

Maybe, if you're lucky, another medium term solution is found. Say this is before Christmas and the classes involved are already on their second teacher of the year. The teachers who were doing extra work breathe a sigh of relief and try to catch up with their own stuff. The teacher who's picked up the classes finds they're behind, maybe their behaviour isn't great etc etc, maybe the class try to test them because they're feeling rejected.

The teacher likely finds a new job for after Christmas, maybe a permanent role, or maternity cover, something that seems a bit nicer than what they're dealing with now. So it's back to point two again. Except everyone's more stressed and more goodwill has been lost. Teachers within the department consider looking for jobs elsewhere.

If you're very lucky, and the school's in a MAT, at this point they may try bringing in a teacher from another school to fill the gap (on a temporary basis). So this is the 3rd teacher, maybe by February half term. Maybe it's agreed they will see the classes through to exams (because yeah, exam classes are being impacted by this too).

That teacher probably has a long commute and is in a difficult situation. The department is potentially burnt out and can't support them. Often they don't last, and at this stage, maybe someone else has gone off sick, or found a new job. Maybe the school can't get day supply this time. You end up at a bit of a crisis point, teaching multiple classes together in the library or the hall. Hopefully this only lasts for a day or two, and then at least you can get supply in.

Teachers from the wider school are getting pulled in to cover etc, so this is potentially negatively impacting everyone.

The school is still trying to recruit, maybe now they've got two roles to fill for September. No-one is applying, because teachers get twitchy when they see a job advert hang around for too long. Other teachers in the department think the grass may be greener and go on a job hunt...

Timetabling decisions are made for next year which aren't made in the best interest of the subject or the kids, but are instead based around "what can we staff"? Subjects lose curriculum time at KS3. Options subjects get offered in less blocks. Things like science and maths do weird timetabling set ups, which means no-one in Y10 or Y11 can move groups (which often means students are limited to foundation/higher paper rather than being able to move between classes). Non-specialists get timetabled for KS3. Potentially SLT get timetabled for more teaching hours. This means you have to do things like re-write the scheme of work, or do more resourcesing etc.

It's now about May half term. 2 of the department have found other jobs. No vacancies have been filled. So now you're short staffed by 3 instead of 1 for September. Paying for supply all the time is expensive, so the school decides you can take on a new class in your gained time. This is the final straw, and in September you start looking for another job.

You can see, hopefully, how this puts departments, schools and students on a real downwards cycle. In some subjects, there simply aren't enough teachers to fill all the vacancies. And it can be simple bad luck that puts a school in this position (although I do think other factors are involved).

In order to staff schools, teacher wages and conditions have to be attractive- it really is that simple. The tories don't give a fuck about state education, they don't care if kids in state schools have 5 science teachers in a year. They don't appreciate the knock on impacts of that, either.

Something has to radically change.

[halflingcaravan]

Fucking geniuses…

Fact: There is a very large and widespread shortage of teachers in NSW Australia. There are a number of schools with >10% and some as many as 40% of their positions formally empty and filled with temp teachers **in some cases but certainly not all**

Fact: The Teachers Union got an increase in wages for teachers which barely addresses inflation and certainly did nothing to address the many many other problems within schools that could be addressed with some basic funding. As well as doing nothing about the increasing pointless admin foisted upon teachers in the last 10 years.

Fact: Previous governments pushed many budget decisions onto school principals through a policy called “local schools local decisions” which basically means that the central admin can fuck up a school budget but the principal of the school gets to carry the can of blame because they’re choosing what gets funding.

Fact: The government of this state, during a shortage of teachers, when people are also leaving teaching at a higher than usual rate and getting new teachers is proving much harder than before… has cut the budget for schools in this fair state by around 1.5%.

[stillchugging-captisjuice]

Parents need to know what's going on inside schools so they can get their children OUT!

While I cannot speak for all schools I can tell you what’s going on at the one I work in.

The school is down 2 science teachers and have been since September, no one is applying for the job.

Several members of staff have been off with mental health issues for months due to how stressful everything is.

Two head of departments have handed in their resignations

Two maths teachers have handed their resignations in

3 Teaching assistants have quit

Loads of teachers have their resignations ready to be turned in but are reluctant to leave because they care about the kids.

SEN students aren’t getting their allocated 1-1 support hours due to a shortage of Teaching assistants

The science department can’t afford to do certain practicals

The art department can’t afford new equipment

Only certain classrooms can afford to be heated

Some children who aren’t registered Pupil premium are going hungry and some kind members of staff are buying their lunches for them out of their own pocket.

There’s a shortage of note books

The chairs keep breaking and there’s not enough money to replace them. ( students swinging on chairs over time breaks the back legs)

There’s no glue, the glue that’s left is kept inside offices or teachers desks

There’s no spare stationary, loads of teachers are buying stationary for kids out of their own pockets.

Kids behaviour is getting worse, teachers are battling tik tok and other forms of media for their attention and it’s exhausting.

Kids are starting to think rules don’t apply to them and refuse to come to lessons and are verbally abusive to each other and staff members

There’s been an increase in schools in my area of kids getting into fights and disrupting lessons

The school I work in isn’t even a ‘bad’ school, it’s one of the most applied to in the area which gets the some of the best GCSEs results in the county.

A lot of people are acting like only the “troubled schools” are being affected and it’s not. Every school is struggling which is why Teachers and support staff are protesting.

How can anyone run a school without the budget or the staff, the strikes aren’t affecting your kid’s education, the government is.

[digitalmagus]

Considering all the programs and such for nurses and other various fields why do we not yet have a state or fed sponsored program to get teachers through college when we're actively in the middle of a teacher shortage?

If there is one I'd love to know about it because it's looking dismal from over here otherwise.

Do the idiots in congress forget, or don't care likely, THAT THE PEOPLE BEING TAUGHT NOW WILL IN THEIR SEATS IN A FEW DECADES????

[writing-n-memes]

I’ve decided to become a teacher and I looked up teaching tips and such on tiktok and it’s just making me depressed. It’s mostly either bad students making teachers quit or bad teachers needing to be fired. There’s a reason for the shortage and it’s not just about the pay

[spedresources4all]

5 Minute Lunch Meditations for Teachers

I am a big believer in the power of meditation but establishing a consistent practice is often stymied by adulting.  More impossible than the practice of “emptying my mind” for more than three seconds is finding the time to even attempt the aforementioned challenge. That being said, I realized recently that my mindset, which seems to be teetering toward burnout, needed a refresh.  Photo by MART…