As US schools battle with staffing shortages, educators and allied professionals are experiencing a rise in burnout, similar to trends among healthcare professionals. According to a survey by the National Education Association — the nation’s largest union representing almost 3 million educators — many educators are ready to leave the profession. Educators have historically worked long hours, have few resources and are poorly paid when compared to other occupations that have similar prerequisites. In addition, the effects of the pandemic have resulted in a deterioration of working conditions for school staff whose environments were challenging beforehand. This article discusses the combination of factors contributing to the staffing shortages in US schools, and what some staffing firms are doing to meet the challenges head-on.
Resignations. Like the nursing shortage crisis, the school staffing crisis existed before the pandemic, but was exacerbated over the past two years. According to a 2022 survey by the US Department of Education, among schools with job vacancies, 51% of job openings were due to resignations. While some resignations were due to retirement, a large quantity were due to individuals choosing to leave the education sector.
Education as a profession. Although resignations are one factor driving the school staffing shortage, another is the decrease in individuals choosing education as a profession while studying in college. The Department of Education’s annual data on enrollment and degree completion levels reflect sharp declines from 2009 through 2014, decreasing by roughly 300,000 due to an increase in quits. Enrollment and degree completion rates leveled off from 2017 through 2020, and although data is still unclear around pandemic disruptions, growth appears to have remained flat.
Loss of diversity. As of the 2014 school year, students of color became the majority according to the Department of Education; however, more than 75% of teachers are white. A January 2022 poll of NEA members found that while 55% of educators — including special education instructors and education support professionals — were more likely to retire or leave education earlier than planned due to the pandemic; these rates were even higher for Black and Hispanic educators at 62% and 59%, respectively. Although data on educator demographics since the pandemic is uncertain, there is little data to suggest a significant increase in teachers of color. Among many other negative effects of losing these professionals in the school setting, the more interactivity between students and educators with different racial backgrounds, the lesser the likelihood students will carry ethnic prejudices in adulthood.
In addition to teacher shortages, schools are increasingly in need of special education specialists, speech language pathologists, behavioral therapists, occupational therapists, school psychologists and school nurses. Indeed, increasing demand from schools was identified as a growth driver by SIA as part of its market size growth estimates for 2022 and 2023. Last September, Staffing Industry Analysts predicted a 20% expansion in the allied segment of the healthcare industry for 2022 and an 8% expansion for 2023 as published in its “US Staffing Industry Forecast September 2022” report. These growth rates may be revised upward based on current evidence of robust demand in SIA’s April 2023 forecast. Staffing firm executives have confirmed to SIA that they are seeing an increase in demand for allied staffing in schools in addition to other sectors, with therapy and speech language pathologists seeing the greatest demand.
Some US schools are leaning on staffing firms to fill open positions as they have pools to pull from with talent from across the country. Schools benefit from staffing firm recruitment services and are able to offer travel professionals a permanent position if a good fit. Staffing firms also have data analytics to assist with identifying patterns and relationships within the market, and more firms are investing in technology to streamline processes that expedite the time it takes to recruit allied professionals and shorten onboarding times. Additionally, many staffing firms partner with vendors that result in broader talent pools, marketing reach and diversified candidates.
When US school leaders partner with staffing firms to increase the number of working allied professionals — whether teachers, nurses or therapists — the results can be swift improvements in working conditions for professionals who are beyond exhausted and overwhelmed while simultaneously improving the learning environment and services received by children. Just as the nursing shortage must be addressed to ensure first-line heroes are supported and patient care is top grade, communities and staffing firms can be educator allies to ensure they have what is needed to continue to positively impact children’s success.
For more insight on the demand for healthcare staffing broadly across the US, see SIA’s “2022 Healthcare Staffing Market Assessment” report.
