The Philadelphia Inquirer: As the start of the school year looms, teacher vacancies remain. (archive link) (“The problem is, we can’t even put them in a study hall,” McGarry said in a recent interview. “We won’t have a substitute teacher or staff” to run it.)
Washington Post: ‘Never seen it this bad’: America faces catastrophic teacher shortage (archive link) (“Rural school districts in Texas are switching to four-day weeks this fall due to lack of staff. Florida is asking veterans with no teaching background to enter classrooms. Arizona is allowing college students to step in and instruct children.”)
The Philadelphia Inquirer story doesn’t even mention covid, the pandemic, disability, nor the numerous deaths of teachers. In the Washington Post story, there’s one quote referencing covid, from Randi Weingarten saying there are “aftereffects” from covid.
But covid is not past tense.
San Francisco Chronicle at least quoted a Superintendent acknowledging that teachers being off sick is still an ongoing issue.
Just one of many stories I’ve heard of early retirements or people leaving teaching is that of @Liat_RO, who stated, “Some sad personal news: I’m taking a leave from @NYCSchools this year.@NYCMayor & above have shown they don’t care about teachers -or students- wellbeing…”
When schools exclude the disabled and older teachers, by making the workplace inaccessible — they should expect to have a smaller pool of applicants.