COVID-19 pandemic worsens hiring woes at Illinois schools, with 88% of districts reporting teacher shortages in new survey

CHICAGO -- Nearly 90% of Illinois school districts statewide are struggling with an alarming teacher shortage that has reached a crisis level during the COVID-19 pandemic, officials with an organization of regional superintendents said Tuesday.

The escalating statewide teacher shortage, which officials said is expected to worsen in the coming years, was reflected in the results of a fall survey of more than 660 Illinois school districts by the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools.

With the organization’s study of the teacher shortage now in its fifth year, the most recent survey data illuminate how during the pandemic, Illinois schools are increasingly struggling to recruit qualified teachers, while also witnessing veteran educators retiring earlier than anticipated because of “tremendous stress,” said Mark Klaisner, IARSS president and executive director of a regional office known as West40, which serves school districts in West Cook County.

“At first teachers thought the pandemic was going to last six months, then a year, and now we’re knocking on the door of 24 months, so I can’t blame them,” Klaisner said.

“But I almost weep when I talk to some of the most phenomenal teachers we have, who still love the job, but who tell me they can’t afford to take the risk anymore. … It’s understandable, but it’s making this situation 10 times worse,” he said.

A critical shortage of school employees, including teachers, was evident earlier this month when dozens of suburban school buildings were temporarily shuttered following winter break in the wake of surging COVID-19-related absences.

Illinois school districts in rural, urban and suburban communities alike report the teacher shortage problem has become a crisis, with 88% of school districts confirming they have a teacher shortage, 77% saying the shortage is getting worse, and 93% saying they expect the shortage will accelerate in the coming years, according to the survey.

School districts also report more than 2,000 positions are either not filled or are assigned to someone who is not qualified — more than double the amount of unqualified workers school districts reported during the last school year, Klaisner said.

A substitute teacher shortage was reported at 96% of school districts — a hardship that forced the cancellation of more than 400 classes and required that instruction be moved online “because schools simply had no one to teach (students) in person,” according to the survey.

The survey found shortages of district administrators are less severe, but they are expected to climb due to retirements and the challenges of finding qualified candidates.

Last fall, officials at Elgin-based School District Unit 46 — one of the largest districts in the state — struggled to fill hundreds of open positions at its 57 school buildings, including dozens of teachers, 24 food service workers, 17 health services positions and 79 paraprofessionals who assist students in the classroom, Superintendent Tony Sanders said.

But while the pandemic has exacerbated hiring needs, the study’s findings revealed the “effects of COVID-19 on day-to-day school instruction goes much deeper.”

District administrators reported their teachers and staff “are burned out,” their substitute teacher pools are decimated as more educators choose to retire or not return to the classroom, and “very public battles over mask and other education mandates are taking a heavy toll.”

The survey, which ensured the confidentiality of the participating educators, included a response from one elementary school administrator from northwest Illinois who commented: “Anyone ‘on the fence’ about becoming or staying an educator is likely not going to be around.”

And while the teacher shortage is evident statewide — and across the U.S. — the state’s rural school districts reported “the most significant problems and the worst outlook ahead,” according to the survey, with the most severe shortages found in West Central and East Central Illinois, each of which has more than 90% of schools reporting shortages.

Illinois State Board of Education spokeswoman Jackie Matthews said Tuesday that officials had not yet reviewed the IARSS survey, but “look forward to continuing to work with IARSS to make policy recommendations to strengthen the teacher pipeline and supports for current teachers.”

The number of licensed educators employed in Illinois has grown year-over-year since 2018, Matthews said, and Illinois has “added more than 5,000 teachers to the profession.”

“The state’s historic investments in school funding have provided school districts with the resources they have needed to create more teaching positions,” Matthew said, adding that ISBE has “also focused intently on eliminating barriers to licensure, such as the basic skills test; expanding pathways to licensure for career changes and industry professionals; recruiting and retaining teachers of color; and strengthening the pipeline for current high school students to get a head start on becoming teachers.”

“We still have work to do, and we look forward to continuing to engage stakeholders and lawmakers in uplifting this incredible profession,” she said.

ISBE officials delivered a more optimistic snapshot of the state’s education workforce in October when they released the state’s report card for the 2020-21 school year, citing progress made hiring educators of color and improving average teacher salaries across the state.

Illinois school districts added 1,251 more Hispanic teachers and 184 more Black teachers to their ranks, increasing their representation from 5.6% and 5.8%, respectively, of the teacher workforce in the 2016-17 school year to 7.9% and 6% of the teacher workforce last school year, the state reported.

According to ISBE, teacher pay and teacher retention also increased, with teachers earning $70,705 on average in 2021 — 3.9% more than in 2020 — and remaining in the profession at a rate of 87.1% – a 1.4 % increase over 2020.

State Superintendent Carmen Ayala said at the time that school districts can use portions of the $7 billion in federal pandemic relief funding allocated to the state’s schools to pay parent mentors and tutors, hire additional staff and offer current teachers stipends and retention bonuses.

Officials with the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools said the survey on teacher shortages is an important tool to help education leaders and policymakers “identify cracks throughout the educator pipeline and develop a series of short-term and long-term solutions.”

They reccomend legislative proposals making it easier for retired teachers to return to the classroom, more scholarships for students hoping to teach in subject areas with the largest teacher shortages, enhanced mentoring programs and licensure processes, and increased benefits, officials said.

“It’s a high-stress job that does not offer a whole lot of pay, and then you put a pandemic on top of it,” said Klaisner, with the state superintendents organization, adding: “We have to be focused on what’s best for our students, because they are getting close to two and a half years of these struggles.”

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