Teacher Shortages

[ldw4mlo]

Not enough kids to sustain.

Schools in our area have the lowest class sizes in decades, My daughter is class of 2024, our districts largest class ever. And every class behind her is smaller and smaller. The district is trying to work out how to justify keeping teachers employed. Add in a pandemic not a surprise. I see gymnastic enrollment falling in our general area as well

 

[Aussie_coach]

Not enough kids to sustain.

Schools in our area have the lowest class sizes in decades, My daughter is class of 2024, our districts largest class ever. And every class behind her is smaller and smaller. The district is trying to work out how to justify keeping teachers employed. Add in a pandemic not a surprise. I see gymnastic enrollment falling in our general area as well

That is quite worrisome. Hopefully it doest mean more gyms have to close their doors.

 

[Madden3]

Not enough kids to sustain.

Schools in our area have the lowest class sizes in decades, My daughter is class of 2024, our districts largest class ever. And every class behind her is smaller and smaller. The district is trying to work out how to justify keeping teachers employed. Add in a pandemic not a surprise. I see gymnastic enrollment falling in our general area as well

Interesting! My son is class of 2025 and we are having a teacher shortage. We are in California. I have no idea why this is happening, but it's a big problem here.

My eldest went to Woodward West for gymnastics when he was 11- so almost a decade ago. He won a partial scholarship otherwise we never could have afforded it. He had a great time.

 

[NutterButter]

In the US there was a mini baby boom in 2006/2007. Then the birth rate has been falling since the Great Recession in 2008.

 

[skschlag]

Not enough kids to sustain.

Schools in our area have the lowest class sizes in decades, My daughter is class of 2024, our districts largest class ever. And every class behind her is smaller and smaller. The district is trying to work out how to justify keeping teachers employed. Add in a pandemic not a surprise. I see gymnastic enrollment falling in our general area as well

Well, most places are having a teacher shortage right now. We just got all of our staff at our school hired last week, and school started mid-August. Many many schools in our area have openings still. And in our school, we have classes of 30-32 in at least 3 grades.

 

[NutterButter]

The teacher shortage is nationwide but of course not all schools are currently experiencing a shortage. @ldw4mlo is fortunate that her kid isn't directly affected by the shortage. My DS, class of 2024, has almost 50 kids in math class.

 

[Coach Kate]

Not enough kids to sustain.

Schools in our area have the lowest class sizes in decades, My daughter is class of 2024, our districts largest class ever. And every class behind her is smaller and smaller. The district is trying to work out how to justify keeping teachers employed. Add in a pandemic not a surprise. I see gymnastic enrollment falling in our general area as well

Our gym turns 9 years old next week and we had our busiest summer ever - highest number of enrollments for that session since we opened. Fall has also been busy. We would love to hire more people and open more classes...we have waitlists longer than class sizes right now but we can't staff them!

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

(Psst

"Teacher shortage" is code for "teachers don't get paid enough")

 

[JPC13]

(Psst

"Teacher shortage" is code for "teachers don't get paid enough")

There's another obvious reason why shortages exist across many industries -- a large fraction of the workforce got fired for... "reason." In fact, between 850 and 2000 teachers and associated workers were fired in NYC for... "reason."

 

[skschlag]

There's another obvious reason why shortages exist across many industries -- a large fraction of the workforce got fired for... "reason." In fact, between 850 and 2000 teachers and associated workers were fired in NYC for... "reason."

Yeah, that didn't happen here, and we are seriously short handed.

 

[ldw4mlo]

The teacher shortage is nationwide but of course not all schools are currently experiencing a shortage. @ldw4mlo is fortunate that her kid isn't directly affected by the shortage. My DS, class of 2024, has almost 50 kids in math class.

Our average class size is 20-22.

Maybe it has to do with NYS. teacher salaries are pretty high here.

 

[Dahlia]

(Psst

"Teacher shortage" is code for "teachers don't get paid enough")

On top of pay, also not respected enough and required to do too many things to "prove" we are good teachers that really proves nothing and takes away time from the actual prep work we need to do to be good teachers. Not to mention that 45 minutes of prep time per day is not enough, so spending hours of unpaid time a week preparing lessons and materials.

We have a shortage in my state too.

And there are tons of current first graders comparted to other elementary grade levels due to parents choosing to delay Kindergarten a year rather than put their kids in online Kindergarten the fall of 2020.

 

[Mish]

Small class sizes here on Long Island, too. Teacher salaries are very high here.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Small class sizes here on Long Island, too. Teacher salaries are very high here.

As it should be everywhere.
Sorry, I know this is a tangent and I'm soapboxing a bit here, but I don't care.

Teachers perform arguably the most important job in all of civilization, and they should be paid accordingly. In a sane world, they would be revered as the preservers of knowledge, entrusted with the sacred task of passing our collective knowledge and culture and heritage on to each subsequent generation. Without teachers, you'd have nothing. No doctors, no lawyers, no artists, no skilled workers, nothing. Without teachers, civilization would collapse within a generation.

In a sane world, it wouldn't be financiers and pop stars and professional athletes driving the coolest cars and living in the nicest houses and going on the fanciest vacations; it would be teachers.

(EDIT: Whichever mod split this off into its own thread, good call)

 

[txgymfan]

Note: I separated this topic into its own thread.

I have worked as an elementary school teacher, a preschool teacher, as a care provider for infants and toddlers in a group setting and as a professional nanny. Out of all of those, teachers get paid better, with more benefits and respect than all of the above ( with very few exceptions).

I understand that teachers need more pay, respect etc, but the profession is acknowledged and respected far more than the professionals caring for the youngest members of our society ( and frankly in parallel, the oldest). I am a teacher, I am not currently working in a school. No one asks teachers when they are going to get a ”real job” or refers to your job as “babysitter” or one of many many other disrespectful things people say to childcare providers.

Stepping off my own soap box now.

 

[gymgal]

NYS's population has been declining over the years, with a significant declined during the pandemic. Not surprising that they are seeing student shortages. But yes, their high teacher salaries helps recruit teachers to that state. Of course, their cost of living is also significantly higher. 75k in NY doesn't go very far. It's all relative

 

[Aussie_coach]

The teacher shortage is not just US wide, it is worldwide.

It’s not just in education, there are worker shortages in many, many professions right now.

 

[CoachPow]

Yeah, that didn't happen here, and we are seriously short handed.

Yup- I've been teaching for 19 years and don't know a single teacher fired for "the reason." I know many that have taken better paying jobs, or quit due to lack of administrative or parental support and poor student behavior...

 

[JBS]

I see lots of reports on "teacher burnout"...

https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2022-06-13/educators-report-highest-level-of-burnout-among-all-other-industries

 

[skschlag]

I see lots of reports on "teacher burnout"...

https://www.usnews.com/news/education-news/articles/2022-06-13/educators-report-highest-level-of-burnout-among-all-other-industries

This is HUGE. And very true. We are exhausted. I easily work 3-4 extra hours a day, and even on the weekend. In addition, taking classes to try to get my hours for recertification. It is tough.

I will say, my husband, not a teacher, also works a lot of hours. He also has some burnout. The difference is pay, bonuses, and wellness days that he gets.