Since the fall of 2019, American schools have been experiencing a detrimental teaching shortage. Although not obvious at the surface, both teachers and students have noticed the effects of this growing issue. 

     As a student myself, I have seen examples of this throughout my high school career. Most recently, the biotech program has struggled to find a new educator to help guide students of high intellect in a niche subject. Douglas County school district is not the only area to see this, however. 

     Since the start of the pandemic, more and more teachers have begun to have the desire to quit teaching and move onto something else. An occupation with a higher salary, where they don’t have to babysit a bunch of 16 year old toddlers. In an article from Edweek.org [published in Sept. 2022]  it states, “Since the pandemic, teachers have signaled that they’re more inclined to quit their jobs, citing high stress, low pay, and a lack of respect. And many school districts have reported having a hard time filling staff vacancies at the start of this school year.”    

     That being said, public and private schools around the nation have had a particularly difficult time filling positions, especially those of which require specific knowledge and skills. Just in the first four months of the 22-23 school year, my Advisement and I have had three different teachers (not including substitute teachers) and three different rooms. As you can imagine, this can take a toll on a group of teenagers. When advisement’s main purpose is to provide all students with a homey community, it can be hard to see your peers in a happy advisement class with the same teacher and students they’ve had beside them for the past three and a half years. 

     Although this may seem like a temporary issue, many researchers, teachers, administrators and students fear this will cause lasting issues in K-12 classrooms for years to come. In an interview with chalkbeat.org, chief of human resources in Jefferson county Aimee Green-Webb explains that this teaching shortage will result in a chain reaction for years to come.

     “High-poverty schools in particular will face familiar challenges staffing their classrooms with skilled teachers…. ‘We are now at the crisis point,’ said Aimee Green-Webb. But just because a job gets filled doesn’t mean that schools found a good fit. Leaders may end up hiring a less qualified or less skilled teacher if pickings are slim.”

      For students with years of high school ahead of them, how many more teachers will leave? As someone who is going to college in the coming months, I could not be more relieved that I am barely missing this potentially disastrous shortage of educators. Although Castle View is sliding by with their annual teacher turnaround, a minimal change can throw this percentage off drastically. Teachers are in need of a higher salary as they work a 9-5 that takes experience, compassion, intelligence, and overall, it’s been a bottom of the barrel professional occupation since the start of the pandemic.