The Upper Darby School District superintendent says the teacher shortage is 'going to only get worse' without action. KerriCorrado reports.
DREXEL HILL, Pa. — As the school year is slowly approaching, Upper Darby is looking into many different options on how to handle the teacher shortage. District administrators are working with the teacher’s union and parents to get creative.
“Obviously there’s a national crisis and we’re not able to elude or escape that reality,” Superintendent Daniel McGarry said.Sesame Place Announces Changes To Diversity Programs After Recent High-Profile Racial Incidents“We are going to hold on for as long as we can, keep our schools open for our kids and keep pushing forward,” McGarry said, “but there needs to be bigger relief in sight. Better pay for teachers. Encouraging people to go into this profession.
McGarry says the district is looking to increase community college opportunities for students by paying for credits, books and transportation.“But even that leads to a burnout factor and it leads to if we have a high absenteeism for a certain reason especially as we go into the fall with COVID again,” McGarry said, “if we have a lot of teachers that are out and they are covering additional classes and we can’t get subs, we may not be able to open a day.
The commonwealth’s Department of Education said last year 6,000 new teachers entered the workforce. That is significantly down from 10 years ago when roughly 20,000 new teachers started.“Because the compensation, the stress of the job, unfunded mandates, pressure related to school violence, parent involvement,” McGarry said. “All of those aspects have led to young people saying I am not sure I want that to be my profession.
There is a job fair on Thursday. If you are interested in being a teacher, it’s at the high school from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
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