Teacher Shortage Forcing Local School Districts to Poach One Another’s Staff

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teacher shortage
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The teacher shortage has been creating problems for local school districts since before the pandemic, prompting even more to leave the profession for good. Yet, there is another factor contributing to this problem, writes Susan Snyder for the Philadelphia Inquirer

The number of people who are studying to become teachers is shrinking. In Pennsylvania, this went down by 53 percent between 2011-12 and 2019-20. 

Due to the shortage, many districts are using specialists to cover gaps, which leaves kids without classes like art or music. In other cases, teachers have to use their planning time to cover for colleagues. 

This past year, John Sanville, superintendent of the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District, was unable to get a business and technology teacher. For months, he was forced to staff that class with a substitute who was not certified in those areas. 

“That has not been a great situation for the students,” Sanville said in March at the state’s public hearing on the teacher shortage. 

He was eventually able to lure a certified teacher from another district by offering better pay, but that left the other district with a hole to fill. 

Read more about the teacher shortage in the Philadelphia Inquirer

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