In schools all across the country there has been a shortage of teachers, and subs. All over the US, especially since covid, teachers have been leaving either due to not enough respect in the classroom or not enough pay.

Ms Mioton says, “As someone who has always dreamed of being a teacher, it is heartbreaking to see so many educators leaving the profession and to hear the negative things many non-educators say about teachers.” 

With many teachers and subs leaving, the remaining teachers are sent a list of classes that need to be filled or subbed. Mr Paetow says, “I have lost some of my planning and grading time, so that I am picking up teaching other classes.”

Many teachers feel that this situation has been going on for much longer than just this year, but this issue has been “amplified” due to covid.

When asked about this issue and what could be done to help, “I believe one solution to this would be increasing the amount of pay that teachers and substitutes are allotted,” says Coach Mioton, “With the pandemic hitting, in the last few years teachers have had to take on more responsibilities and have more expectations that are not adequately compensated for. I also think a shift in how educators are viewed would make a positive impact.”

With all the teachers that are leaving it makes it harder on all the other teachers, but it affects students as well.

“Because we are losing good teachers, not only are we stuck in big classes, on top of that there may not be people who care as much,” says Ms. Thomas. 

A positive outcome of all of this is that we should learn a very important lesson; that teaching is very hard to do, teachers are constantly getting put down and not paid enough. Respect your teachers and help out with this issue!