The teacher shortage has been an ongoing crisis facing schools across the country. Pennsylvania is no different, with a study by the Learning Policy Institute saying that in 2021-22 alone, more than 13,000 teachers were not fully certified for their teaching assignments.
As more school districts look to find ways to fill those gaps, greater attention is being paid to the teachers in training at colleges and universities.
Shippensburg University is the only university in Pennsylvania with an on-campus public elementary lab school, giving students hands-on experience working in the classrooms. Despite the resources provided, the university is seeing a shortage just as much as other schools.
“A lot of schools are taking people simply because they need bodies to fill the positions. I am grateful for those people; they are fulfilling a role that we need to provide for the youth,” said Katie Huston, a junior secondary English education major at Shippensburg University. “However, I do get nervous when I think of all the problems that cause educators to leave the field to begin with.”
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Huston is very much aware of the shortages facing her profession. “I think that there are a lot of different factors for the teaching shortage, but everyone’s situation as to why they leave teaching is different,” she said. “Some teachers decided enough was enough in regards to the way that some state governments are restricting their educators. Other educators that I have seen online left the profession because of how their administration handled different things.”
Huston has completed an estimated 100 hours of observation experience and has taught a few lessons in those placements. However, while Huston mentioned several experiences that may have resulted in her peers leaving the field, she said pinning down the exact reason behind the shortage is not as black and white as it may appear.
“A lot of individuals believe that there are ‘enough’ teachers, but that is far from the case. The teacher shortage is truly appalling to think about,” said Isabelle Schannauer, a sophomore at Shippensburg University and pre- K-4 elementary education major. “Seeing the planning side of what teachers endure before, during and after schools to create lessons, activities, testing resources and more goes to show how much work goes into a school day. With the lack of teachers, it is difficult on teachers because they are forced to spend longer hours on uncompensated work.”
“I think that it is a symptom of this country continuing to neglect and disrespect its educators and not provide the support that they need to do their best,” said Mark McKenzie, a secondary science education major. “People who are considering becoming teachers now realize just how scrutinized and difficult the job really is, and consider the lack of compensation in return for all this.”
While each of these future teachers has concerns for the state of the profession, they remain optimistic that things will get better.
“It’s hard not to see the current state of education in this country and not feel some sort of pessimism when it comes to the future, but I think that this is a problem that can be solved if we take a step back and really examine what issues exist and why they have existed for so long,” McKenzie said.
“It is definitely nerve-wracking to believe that teachers are not getting the resources and compensation we deserve,” Schannauer said. She remains hopeful for the future of the country’s educators. “At the end of the day, the most important focus is the students and children who you are teaching. These young minds are at school to learn, and it is our job as educators to guide them through everyday life.”
“I hope to find a school that fits, where I can be supported and support my students, because at the end of the day, it’s about them getting a quality education,” Huston said.