This week most students and teachers are returning to the classroom and in addition to the excitement of beginning a new school year, the teacher shortage remains a looming issue. Louisiana Federation of Teachers president Larry Carter says the shortage of instructors is extremely worrisome, especially for teachers themselves.
“They were very concerned about potentially having to then cover classrooms where teachers had not been hired before school started. It is a concern,” said Carter.
Carter fears the teacher shortage will be tremendous. He says in some districts he’s seen more than 150 vacancies for certified teachers.
“Then in some of our rural, smaller districts you might see 60 or maybe even 70 and that’s high compared to what they normally would start the year with,” said Cater.
Carter says it comes down to respect and support. Respect for the profession and support which includes more pay, so they can recruit more instructors and retain the ones they have.
“There’s a lot of discussions going on about how to resolve this issue, there are many. We have to take these into consideration and also think about how we can be competitive,” said Carter.
And while teachers and support staff were given pay raises, Carter says they were not enough to keep teachers from leaving their parish or even the state for other teachings positions.
Howdy,
Retired from 32 years in the classroom in the area of Sp. Education last Fall. Yours truly would be interested in returning for another year or two were it not for the substantial monthly penalty levied against my monthly pension for doing so.
Contact your local school system, legislation was passed in the most recent session to encourage retired teachers to return to the classroom and it won’t negatively impact their retirement. https://louisianaradionetwork.com/2022/05/03/louisiana-house-approves-legislation-to-entice-retired-teachers-to-return-to-the-classroom/