According to the Pew Research Center, 70% of educators say their school is understaffed, leading to a heavier workload. With fewer people getting degrees in education, schools face severe staff shortages, increasing the strain on already overworked educators. High expectations, poor student behavior, a lack of state and federal funding, and a struggle to find a sustainable work-life balance all contribute to teachers leaving or considering leaving their professions.
Many of the same factors contributing to teacher shortages also cause high levels of frustration among substitute teachers.
“The whole system is broken,” said Daniel Lansing, a past long-term substitute at Stoughton High School.
Over the last few years, SASD educators and substitutes have been leaving left and right, making it harder to find consistent student support.
“Teachers are trying to execute what they want to do in a system that’s kind of broken and doesn’t have the support that it should have,” Lansing said.
Permanent teachers have been filling the voids left by increasing teacher departures, taking on additional responsibilities like subbing during free periods, making it harder to complete everyday tasks and plan for their classrooms.
“We don’t have time to create or complete our curriculum to the best of our ability because we are not allotted the amount of time that we expect,” noted Jessica Tomaszewski, Stoughton High School’s Family and Consumer Sciences teacher.
Many potential young teachers are straying from the profession when faced with the reality of teaching in these conditions.
“I’ve had several student teachers, and almost none of them have gone into the field in recent years,” said Katy Mullen, a government teacher at SHS.
Schools have always had high demands for qualified teachers, but as fewer college students join the field, schools are becoming understaffed, making it increasingly difficult to support student learning.
The teacher and substitute shortages within SHS have created significant frustrations within the student body, especially regarding the language arts department. Eric Angell was set to teach several language arts classes at SHS during the fall semester but left at the beginning of this year, leaving students to fend for themselves.
“What’s stopping me from writing this essay completely informally? I’m probably going to get the A anyways,” said SHS senior Brayden Welhoefer.
Welhoefer takes Literary Writing, one of the classes left without a permanent teacher.
“I got nine-tenths of the way through [an assignment], and I lost my motivation because there wasn’t a teacher who was actively engaged in the material,” Welhoefer continued.
These shortages have made it harder for students to care about their learning material actively. In Welhoefer’s case, and many others like his, students’ motivation to do well on their work is at an all-time low, although it may not be reflected in their grades.
Despite all the challenges, the SHS administration is increasingly motivated to support teachers and students.
“For the first time in my entire life, I have seen our principal and assistant principal subbing in classrooms. They’re stepping in when they see all of us are exhausted, and we are really fortunate to have that,” said Tomaszewski.
This year, the administration has become more involved than in previous years, with admin staff stepping up to sub in classes, taking some pressure off teachers. The SASD administration has partnered with various organizations to bring new teachers and K-12 substitute staffing to the district.
“We partner with an organization called Circa Works that helps to share our job postings to community partners and higher education institutions, which helps to expand our reach beyond those who are just proactively looking to work for the district,” said Jessica Hart Andrle, SHS Director of Human Resources.
“Starting with the 23-24 school year, [we have] been partnering with an outside agency named ESS, which specializes in K-12 substitute staffing. This has allowed for more dedicated resources to be focused on hiring and scheduling subs and has increased our fill rates,” Andrle said.
SASD administrators are hopeful we will be able to beat the national trend and provide students and staff with adequate staffing solutions throughout the 24-25 academic year and beyond.