Topline
States struggling to hire and retain educators should turn to federal stimulus money to address a nationwide teacher shortage, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said Sunday, as hundreds of thousands of teachers across the U.S. leave the profession.
Miguel Cardona speaks after his nomination for Education Secretary was announced on December 23, … [+]
Key Facts
States could use funds appropriated by the American Rescue Plan—which Congress passed last year—to rehire retired teachers, help universities push student teachers into classrooms earlier and improve working conditions for educators, Cardona told CBS’s Margaret Brennan during an appearance on Face the Nation.
He also suggested using the federal stimulus money to pay student-teachers, instead of expecting people in teacher training programs to go without salaries.
Cardona said the Covid-19 pandemic pushed teachers out of the profession because teachers “were not being respected” when schools closed, a situation that “created some tensions” in many districts.
States also need to make sure they support educators and improve their working conditions, Cardona argued.
The Biden Administration can’t force state and local governments to use the roughly $350 billion in American Rescue Plan funding distributed last year to hire more teachers, but Cardona said the federal government has recommended the move and has worked to allow the funds to be used in that way.
Crucial Quote
“This teacher shortage is a symptom of something that’s been going on for longer than the pandemic, and that’s a teacher respect issue,” Cardona said Sunday. “Unless we’re serious about providing competitive salaries for our educators, better working conditions, so that they can continue to grow … we’re going to constantly deal with shortage issues.”
Contra
School districts have hesitated to use aid appropriated by the American Rescue Plan to hire additional teachers because the funding is short-term, school officials told the Wall Street Journal earlier this year. When the cash expires, the newly-hired teachers would have to be paid with money from the district budget or be laid off.
Key Background
The American Rescue Plan contained the largest chunk of federal funding ever dispersed to U.S. schools, and is intended to address learning gaps and other issues in American schools that arose amid the Covid-19 pandemic. However, many of the funds remain unused, and the money must be spent or dedicated by local school districts by September 2024. Meanwhile, about 300,000 public school teachers and staff left the workforce from February 2020 to May 2022 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, representing about a 3% decline, and some school districts are struggling to fill vacant positions. More than half of all U.S. teachers are considering leaving education earlier than expected, according to a February survey of National Education Association members. In recent years, teachers have had to deal with remote learning, renewed worries about safety after an uptick in school shootings and contentious debates about Covid-19 safety protocols, what subjects teachers can discuss in the classrooms and which books children should be permitted to read.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/carlieporterfield/2022/08/21/education-secretary-pushes-states-to-use-covid-relief-funds-to-aid-teacher-shortage/