School districts all across Canada and the United States report widespread teacher shortages. In the United States, California, Nevada, and Arizona sit at the top of the list of states suffering from the greatest teacher shortages. In October 2023, USA Today reported that 86% of US public schools continued to experience difficulty hiring educators. In Canada, the Ontario Education Minister describes Ontario’s teacher shortage as “a real challenge,” as reported by the Toronto Star. In the US, the highest shortage falls on Special Education, with 7% of positions unfilled. English Language Learning sits close behind with 6% of positions unfulfilled. These positions serve the most vulnerable students, who need their teachers most.
How is Your Child Affected?
if your child has Special Education needs, learning will likely be interrupted as schools struggle to fill positions. In Canada, as the governments restructure their education systems, including cuts to Special Education and placing increased responsibility on the classroom teacher to meet the needs of a wider range of students, your child’s learning could be impacted. Mainstream students can also be affected as their teacher’s attention redirects to students with higher learning needs, and in some cases, as class sizes increase.
What can Parents Do?
Parents who want their children to have a competitive advantage in the future will need to take an active role in their child’s education. Parents will need to ensure that their child is working above grade level year after year so that they will be unaffected by any change in the education system. Very few people would have predicted the global pandemic of 2020 and how it would affect their children’s education. Standardized test results show that the interruptions impacted their learning. If students are working above grade-level expectations, they are unlikely to be affected by future crises in the education system. To move your child ahead, you could move to a district that is less affected by teacher shortages and teacher turnovers. You could switch to a private school, but these changes could negatively affect your child socially and emotionally as they leave their friends behind. Alternatively, you can prepare your child for the next grade every summer. You can buy curriculum workbooks at your local bookstore or dollar store and work through them with your child after school or during the summer. If you don’t have the time, you can hire a tutoring service to accomplish the same. This would be a worthwhile investment in your child’s future and much more affordable than private school. Whatever your decision, remember that placing your child at an advantage is the greatest hedge against school disruptions.