(NEW YORK) Some American public school districts are facing teacher shortages so severe that educators in Minneapolis and Sacramento, California, went on str
Anibal Martel/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images(NEW YORK) Some American public school districts are facing teacher shortages so severe that educators in Minneapolis and Sacramento, California, went on strike recently, demanding officials address the crisis. Researchers and unions agree that teacher shortages predated COVID-19, but they said the pandemic exacerbated the problem. "We saw schools closing down in January, not because of COVID itself, but because they didn't have enough educators for the students to be safely in the buildings. And so we saw some schools going back to virtual learning because of the shortages," Becky Pringle, the president of the National Education Association, a teacher labor union with nearly 3 million members, told ABC News. Two of the most common factors driving the crisis are low pay and working conditions, which get worse as shortages become more severe. Teacher's salaries have been degrading since the 1990s, with teachers now makin
Schools don't have enough short-term teachers to fill in the gaps. School districts in Illinois are now holding one-day online training to get short-term subs, even ones without teaching backgrounds.
Schools don't have enough short-term teachers to fill in the gaps. School districts in Illinois are now holding one-day online training to get short-term subs, even ones without teaching backgrounds.