CHARLOTTE, NC – South Carolina legislatures took action on Wednesday to try to avoid the growing shortage of teachers.
State lawmakers passed a resolution that would restore salary increases for teachers, which had been halted during the pandemic.
“The burnout is real this year,” said Steve Nuzum, a high school English teacher in Richland County.
“I had moments this year when I definitely felt like, you know, why am I doing this?” continued Nuzum.
Nuzum has been teaching for 15 years and says the last 12 months have been the most challenging.
He says that they are giving virtual and face-to-face classes and that the classes are getting more and more crowded.
He’s not the only one who feels that way.
SCforED, a teacher advocacy group surveyed 2,000 of the state’s 60,000 teachers. He found that 39% of respondents did not plan to return to their positions in the fall. Payment was a determining factor.
“I think it has become a crisis right now,” said Ryan Brown, director of communications for the South Carolina Department of Education.
He says that teachers have been overwhelmed during a difficult year.
Brown says the pandemic has only exacerbated retention problems. Despite adding 2,500 teachers in the last year, there are still 500 vacancies across the state.
“It’s not one of those things where you do something, snap your fingers and you’re done. A major systemic change is needed, ”explained Brown.
While lawmakers were trying to reinstate teacher salary increase schedules, which had been frozen during the pandemic; teachers like Nuzum say it is not enough.
“It has been very frustrating. I don’t think the state is really doing much in terms of retention, ”said Nuzum.
He fears that the state is running out of time and teachers.
“We will not have staff to operate the schools safely,” said Nuzum.