South Carolina’s public schools were left with more vacancies and fewer new hires than last year, according to the Educator Supply and Demand Report for 2020 from the Educator Recruitment, Retention and Advancement Center (CERRA).
About 700 teaching or service positions were vacant at the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year, an increase of 26% over last year, according to the CERRA report. According to its website, CERRA is the oldest teacher recruitment program in the United States.
On December 17, state superintendent Molly Spearman issued a statement saying that the pandemic has intensified the teacher crisis across the state.
“If there was anything good with the COVID-19 pandemic, it is that Southern Carolinians have a new appreciation for the tremendous work that teachers do in educating our students,” said Spearman in the statement. “However, the pandemic has intensified the teacher crisis in our state, as evidenced by the report (CERRA).”
Literacy, mathematics, business / marketing / computer technology and art had the highest peak spots, according to the report. CERRA notes that districts have been invited to include interventionist positions with literacy and mathematics, so it can explain some of the growing numbers of vacancies.
Special education is the one that concentrates the largest number of teaching vacancies, which is typical, according to CERRA. A total of 20% of all vacant teaching jobs occurred in special education this year.
CERRA reported more layoffs earlier this year, with 36% of first-year teachers not returning to jobs in the same school district, compared to 28% last year.
However, school districts reported 10% less overall drop-offs among teachers compared to last year. The reason for leaving is unknown for about 30% of departures, but 32% of teachers said they left for personal or family reasons.
In the report, CERRA notes that the pandemic may have led to further teacher leave after the research was completed. The organization plans to survey the districts again in early 2021 to assess the impact of COVID-19, according to the report.
To fill the shortage of teachers, Spearman and the SC Department of Education have called for several actions, according to the note.
These actions include retroactive financing of the annual staggered increase for 2020-2021, providing a salary increase of at least 2% for teachers in the next fiscal year, providing for staggered salary increases over 28 years of service, increasing the teaching supply supplement. and streamlining the teacher evaluation process. Spearman also calls for “protected and unimpeded planning time to devote to non-instructional tasks,” according to the statement.
“Now is the time for state and local leaders to come together for current and future educators, supporting financial incentives, policies and programs that will help ensure that we have a strong, high-quality teacher workforce serving our students for years to come. “said Spearman at launch.
Aiken County
The lack of an annual salary increase, called a gradual increase, for the 2020-2021 school year in South Carolina has been a topic of discussion in the Aiken County Public School District.
In October, the Aiken County Board of Education voted to provide a “Christmas and loyalty bonus” to school district employees, with increased bonuses for employees with several years of work in the school district.
The bonus was intended to make up for the lack of a gradual increase, explained school district finance director Tray Traxler at the October 28 meeting.
Keith Liner, then chairman of the school board, proposed that members of the salary committee “meet with the legislative delegation before the beginning of the January session to discuss the problem of delaying the gradual increase until the 2021-2022 budget”.
“This may be a fruitless effort,” said Liner on October 28, “but I think it is up to us to go and try to defend our case to the delegation so that our employees don’t go another year or several years without a step by step, if they do not take action at the beginning of the session. “
CERRA’s annual supply and demand report is available online, along with archived reports from previous years. Visit cerra.org/supply-and-demand.html to view the reports.