School districts and elected officials can solve this ‘five-alarm crisis’ by making public education an attractive career path.
[Jefferson City, MO] — A new report provides research-based solutions to help mitigate the educator shortage crisis gripping Missouri public schools. The National Education Association, the nation’s largest union representing more than 3 million educators released a white paper explaining a wide variety of long-term strategies and solutions that are effective at recruiting and retaining educators and, most importantly, reflect the needs and priorities of educators themselves. Missouri NEA is the NEA’s state-level affiliate.
The release of the white paper by the nation’s largest labor union comes as staffing shortages continue to plague schools. NEA President Becky Pringle called the educator shortages “a five-alarm crisis,” urging school districts and lawmakers at the local, state, and federal levels to put students and their needs first by implementing research-based sustainable solutions. Earlier this year, a nationwide survey by the NEA revealed that 55 percent of educators are considering leaving the profession earlier than planned.
A recent report by the National Center for Education Statistics at the U.S. Department of Education indicates that more than half of the public schools surveyed in its School Pulse Panel started the 2022-23 school year understaffed. Nationwide approximately 360,000 fewer people are working in public education than before the pandemic, according to August 2022 data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor. An NEA analysis of BLS’s Current Employment Statistics data reveals that pre-K-12 public education will not return to pre-pandemic employment numbers until August 2032 if the job growth rate of the last 12 months, about 3,000 per month, is maintained.
The following statement can be attributed to Phil Murray, President Missouri National Education Association:
Every student regardless of their zip code deserves a highly qualified and caring educator with the resources to inspire student success. Too many students are in schools where educators are placed under extraordinary pressure to do more and more with less and less.
Many potential educators never go into the classroom in part because of low starting salaries and record wage gaps between teaching and professions that require similar education – gaps that get worse over the course of educators' careers. To fix this problem we need to get serious about doing what we know works to support students and educators.
That means giving educators a seat at any table where decisions are made about the well-being of students and elevating the voice of educators in decision-making at all levels, provide teachers with increased autonomy over classroom practice and student assessment, and ensure that administrators receive sufficient training and support.
Find out more at www.nea.org/solutions.
Follow on Twitter at @MissouriNEA
CONTACT:
Mark Jones, MNEA communications director
E: mark.jones@mnea.org
PH: (573) 508-8528
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About the Missouri National Education Association
The 32,000-member Missouri NEA represents teachers, education support professionals, college faculty, retired teachers, and students studying to be teachers in school districts and on college campuses throughout the state. It is the Missouri affiliate of the 3-million-member NEA.
About the National Education Association
The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing more than 3 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators, students preparing to become teachers, healthcare workers, and public employees. Learn more at www.nea.org.