The rollercoaster ride of pandemic schooling has smoothed out and students are, for the most part, back in the classroom.
Now it’s the teachers who are missing.
Elementary and secondary schools across the country are facing higher teacher shortages this year, according to a survey of 20 of the largest school districts published by nonprofit news organization Chalkbeat.
The Providence Public School District started this academic year with 123 teacher vacancies, according to data provided by the district.
That’s more than double the 47 openings last fall, though not far off from the 109 vacancies at the start of the 2019-2020 school year. Unlike years past, however, this year’s openings stemmed in part from more people resigning.
More than 100 teachers left their posts during the prior school year, many handing in their notice in the final days before the new academic year began, according to Zachary B. Scott, Providence Public School’s deputy superintendent of operations.
Some of that was due to the timing of the latest contract negotiations, Scott said. The Aug. 3 agreement between the Providence Teachers Union and the R.I. Department of Education included retroactive raises dating back to 2020. Smith believes many teachers were holding out for that pay bump before handing in their notice.
Whether the state’s 2019 takeover of the failing school district prompted resignations depends who you ask. According to Scott, individual experiences at each school matter much more than changes of administration.
Others feel differently. Matthew J. Buchanan, the former principal at Hope High School, said he resigned due to a lack of support from state administrators. Buchanan, who is Black, also said he noticed a pattern of pushing out school leaders of color.
‘It’s not a deep pool out there.’
Judith Paolucci, Smithfield Public Schools superintendent
It was a difficult decision to leave. Returning to the city where he was raised, to the district where he was a student, was always his goal. But eventually, Buchanan said, he felt he had no choice, stepping down last spring and taking a job as principal of Somerville High School in Massachusetts.
“I didn’t get into this field to drive an hour to Somerville,” Buchanan said. “I got in it to help the students of Providence. This is my home and I was not looking to leave.”
After publishing a column in The Boston Globe explaining his negative experience under the state takeover, Buchanan said he heard from other current and former administrators and teachers who shared his viewpoint.
Lisa M. Foehr, RIDE’s chief of teaching and learning, declined to comment on how the state takeover affected vacancies and resignations in Providence schools.
Instead, Foehr pointed to the pandemic as a major reason why school districts are having trouble finding and keeping teachers.
Not only did more existing teachers choose to leave, but fewer potential candidates were looking to fill those spots, especially for those without traditional teaching backgrounds. “Someone in the past [who] had an engineering background and would have considered being a math teacher may not be this year,” Foehr said.
While the state does not collect information from each school district on vacancies and resignations, the number of requests for emergency certifications – which allow those without all necessary teaching credentials to temporarily become certified – suggests Providence is not the only district struggling to fill teaching openings.
The state approved emergency certificates for 481 teachers and other education roles during the 2020-2021 school year, nearly 100 more than what they approved the year prior, according to RIDE data.
Judith Paolucci, superintendent of Smithfield Public Schools, said her district was increasingly relying on these emergency certifications, especially for traditionally hard-to-fill positions such as math, science and special education. While Smithfield had not seen an increase in vacancies this year, open positions attracted fewer applicants than in years past, and even fewer who met the basic qualifications.
“People just aren’t going into education anymore,” Paolucci said. “It’s not a deep pool out there.”
Research from the Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University found that Providence’s applicant pool has been smaller than the national average for several years, even before the state takeover. Efforts to start hiring earlier yielded some success during the summer of 2020, according to the research, though improvements in recruitment, including for more-diverse and out-of-state candidates, were recommended.
The many variables at play make it impossible to say whether the state takeover is to blame for Providence’s teaching vacancies, according to John P. Papay, associate professor of education and economics at Brown. It might be too early to diagnose the problem, but, in Papay’s eyes, it was not too soon to start trying to solve it.
The district in September announced incentives intended to help fill open positions, including signing bonuses and higher daily pay for substitute teachers.
Papay also stressed the need to build a pipeline of future educators, perhaps adding flexibility in the requirements to become a certified teacher. As for keeping those already teaching in their jobs, it’s all about the culture.
“When teachers are working with colleagues who are effective and moving in the same direction, in a positive environment with strong leaders ... they are more likely to stay,” he said.
Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Lavin@PBN.com.