|
The Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools
conducted an Educator Shortage study and found that 76% of
school districts reported problems with staffing shortages.
“At first it was a teacher shortage. Then there was a teacher
shortage crisis. Then it was a teacher shortage catastrophe, and
it just escalates,” IARSS President Mark Klaisner said.
Klaisner said some downstate districts are trying to come up
with ways to open their schools despite a lack of educators.
“In
a rural area, it might be better to put kids on buses and
transport them to the districts next door,” said Klaisner. “I
never imagined that we would have these kinds of conversations.”
He said other districts are filling the gaps with teachers who
aren’t fully certified.
The Illinois General Assembly passed legislation to address
teacher shortages, including increased pay and retention bonuses
and a measure to increase the number of days a substitute
teacher can stay in the classroom.
“Some of these measures I think are tremendously helpful and I
applaud the state board for opening up avenues that can get
people into the profession. The problem is, we have to find the
people who are excited about being teachers,” said Klaisner.
Klaisner said he is also hearing from school districts around
the state that learning loss from the pandemic is still
prevalent.
“People are still saying from last year anecdotally that kids
are really struggling and it's hard for them to close the gap,”
said Klaisner.
There are 852 school districts in Illinois, the third highest
total in the country behind only California and Texas.ters is solely responsible for this content.
|
|
