COLUMBUS—Many Crawford County and surrounding school systems are feeling the impact from teacher and support personnel shortages.
On Thursday, the national education Association, the country’s largest labor union headed by President Becky Pringle, held a webinar to discuss the dire shortage of teachers across the United States.
Pringle, along with a panel of educators and the president of the National PTA (parent teachers association), gave opening statements. Then the media was given the opportunity to ask questions about the devastation of the pandemic on the continuing education of our children.
According to Pringle, for the past ten years, the interest in the profession of education is at an all-time decline. She attributes that decline to low pay, high stress, crumbling schools, and a lack of a good support system for teachers and paraprofessionals.
Pringle discussed increased mental health challenges that students and staff face in an effort to keep students safe and not only the school but in the classroom. Most alarming to Pringle is the fact that teachers with a decade or more educational experience in the classroom are leaving mid-year due to the mitigating factors around the pandemic. She noted that the Covid variant that is spreading like wildfire has added to the unbearable stress.
“There are not enough teachers for students to stay in school. The worst-case scenario is a reality.”
Pringle and the panel agreed on some basic things that need to happen to ensure the profession attracts qualified educators.
One teacher told the media that teachers want the respect that is translated into a living wage for teachers, paraprofessional positions, bus drivers, and cafeteria workers. She expressed the fact that teachers are burnt out because they have no time to prepare their lessons. Their classes have doubled in size (to 40-50 students) due to the fact that when teachers are absent, the classes are often combined due to a substitute teacher shortage. The lack of these support services translates to a lack of respect for the profession.
The lack of support is hitting Crawford and surrounding counties heavily. On Friday, the Buckeye Central School District gave students a calamity day for the first time this year due to a significant shortage of staffing and bus drivers combined with student sickness.
Crestline parents report that their children are rotating between in-person and remote learning. This puts a burden on parents in securing childcare and their own inability to report for work. In Marion, teachers and bus drivers are buckling under the stress of their inability to control students’ behavior in class and on the bus. Teachers report being hit on and spit on by students. Bullying is also a problem in the class and on the buses.
According to research conducted by Crawford County Now, the average salary for a first-year teacher in our area is approximately $37,569, while a Master’s degree position pays approximately $41,600.
Ironically, Pringle’s salary ( paid through union dues from teacher salaries) is a whopping $373,328.00 annually.