Pandemic exacerbates state teaching shortage More teachers leaving or retiring than coming into profession

School officials across Illinois say a shortage of teachers and substitutes is forcing them to cancel course offerings, move them online or fill open positions with people who are not fully qualified.

Those are the findings of the latest survey by the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools, the fifth such survey the organization has conducted in as many years.

"Our schools need help, now more than ever," said Mark Klaisner, IARSS president. "For five years of our study, we have shown how schools are struggling to find qualified teachers and are under tremendous stress to provide the best education possible while understaffed and overwhelmed. COVID-19 has only made those challenges worse."

The survey included responses from 663 of the state's 852 school districts, representing 78% of public schools in Illinois. It was conducted in fall 2021 by Goshen Education Consulting, based in Edwardsville.

Overall, 88% of the districts responding said they have a shortage of full-time teachers, while 96% said they have a shortage of substitute teachers. Altogether, 412 classes were canceled and 385 were converted to online instruction because of teacher shortages.

Among the responding districts more than 2,000 positions are either not filled or filled by someone not qualified; more than double the number reported from last year. That includes the increased use of paraprofessionals - people who are not fully licensed as teachers but who are credentialed to work under the direction of a licensed teacher.

The shortage is most acute in the east-central and west-central regions where more than 90% of the districts responding said they had a teacher shortage problem. In the state's Northeast region, 79% of districts reported a shortage. Overall, 77% of districts said the shortage is getting worse.

No specific numbers were reported out for the southern Illinois region.

Klaisner said special education and English as a Second Language teachers are in the shortest supply, although science and math teachers are also in demand.

He added that parts of Illinois that depend on career technical education have had a difficult time with staffing. There are other challenges in hiring physical education instructors.

Meanwhile, 35% of the districts responding said they have a minor-to-serious problem hiring administrators, and 95% said they are getting fewer applications for administrator positions.

The survey results paint a different picture than the most recent state report card, in which the Illinois State Board of Education indicates the teacher workforce has been growing, due largely to additional funding from both state and federal sources.

Klaisner said IARSS does not dispute the ISBE data, but he said 2020-21 findings were skewed by the pandemic and the fact that most districts were operating entirely remotely.

Kathi Griffin, president of the Illinois Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, said there is definitely a teacher shortage that is being made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We've been struggling with a teacher shortage for a number of years," she said. "We've had fewer and fewer college students choosing education. However, the pandemic has just really brought to light the real, true shortage." She said shortages have also been fueled by early retirements and by teachers who left the profession.

"I don't think that the general public realizes the stress, as well as what is being expected of educators," she said.

COVID-19 impact

The IARSS survey also found that the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the teacher shortage. More than 70% of the districts responding said the pandemic has created budget or logistical challenges that have increased the need for more hiring. Nearly 60% reported increased hiring of teachers and paraprofessionals.

That was in spite of the fact that during the pandemic the state has relaxed some of its licensing requirements and given districts more flexibility in assigning teachers to different grade levels. Klaisner said those measures haven't done enough to increase the supply of teachers.

"More and more people are exiting, and the pipeline just can't keep up," he said. "Flexibility is one thing. But if you've got hundreds and thousands of teachers who are leaving, the pipeline's just not producing enough people to fill the gaps."

Superintendents in 42% of the districts surveyed said economic instability and educator burnout caused by the COVID-19 pandemic had increased teacher turnover.

"We are hearing a lot from school districts about the need for substitutes," ISBE's Kirmes added. "We believe (it) is part of some larger labor dynamics in terms of competition in the labor market ... for folks who can do all sorts of positions, including being a substitute."

In recent years, Illinois lawmakers have tried to address teacher shortages, including passing a 2019 law that raises the minimum starting salary for a teacher to $40,000 in 2023.

Klaisner, however, said that has not had the desired effect, especially in poorly-funded districts.

"We found, particularly the downstate districts that weren't paying $40,000, in some cases were having to eliminate positions to meet the statutory requirement," he said. "In other words, if you have two people at $30,000, and you've got to raise it to $40,000, then maybe you let one of those people go so that you can raise the (other) salary because you just don't have more money in the budget."

Regional superintendents are proposing several measures to the General Assembly, including increased funding of the Evidence Based Funding formula with an additional $500 million in the upcoming fiscal year. Currently, they argue, more than half of all districts are funded at less than 70% of adequacy.

They are also proposing funding the Illinois Teachers' Retirement System at 100%, to increase confidence in the system.

Klaisner, however, said one of the most effective things the state could do would be to create new pathways to earning a teaching license.

"For instance, one of my favorite strategies is, if you came to me and said you want to be a teacher, what if I handed you a teacher's license that day and assigned to you a mentor, and you had agreed to take classes at night and I'm evaluating you as a teacher?" he said. "So now you are earning a salary, you're in a classroom with kids, you have been built-in supports. And you don't have to take two to three years (of college), and student teach on top of it."

Last year, ISBE opened grant applications to develop teacher residency programs in which colleges and universities will partner with local school districts or regional offices of education in rural areas to develop training programs in special education and bilingual education.

In a residency program, a teacher candidate would embed in a school for a full year, shadowing a veteran teacher while also taking classes.

"Residency programs overall tend to prepare a more diverse set of future educators," Kirmes said. "And also, educators who are prepared through a residency model tend to emerge from their preparation more fully prepared and are retained at a higher rate."

Lawmakers have scheduled a shortened session this year due to the revised election calendar they adopted due to the delays in the redistricting process.

But state Sen. Christopher Belt, D-Swansea, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, said he hopes lawmakers can at least pass short-term measures to address the teacher shortage, such as allowing retired teachers to work more than 120 days without being penalized on their pension payments.

The long-term solution, Belt said, is to elevate the profession of teaching as something that is more respected and more valued by society.

"We have to do a better job of really owning and telling the narrative of what the profession of teaching is," he said. We have to understand that this is one of the most noble professions that there is. No matter what you are in life, a teacher helped get you to that point."