Educator shortages causing problems across the state

–Capitol News Illinois 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 As- sociation of Regional Superin- tendents 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 strug- gling 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 from663ofthestate’s852school districts, representing 78 percent of public schools in Illinois. It was conducted in the fall of 2021 by Goshen Education Consulting, based in Edwardsville.

Overall, 88 percent of the dis- tricts responding said they had a shortage of full-time teachers, while 96 percent said they had a shortage of substitute teachers. Districts responding reported a total of 412 classes were canceled and 385 were converted to online instruction because of teacher shortage issues.

More than 2,000 positions are either not filled or filled by someone not qualified to teach there, more than double the number reported from last year. Thatincludestheincreaseduseof 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 per- cent of the districts responding said they had a teacher shortage problem. But even in the north- east region where the shortage appeared to be least significant, 79 percent of districts reported a teacher shortage, while overall 77 percent of districts said the shortage is getting worse.