Superintendents and their teams are finding success with strategies deployed to reverse the staff shortages exacerbated by the turbulence of the past few years.
While 66% of leaders say salary was key for teacher morale, 69% think reimagining classrooms and instruction is also essential, according to a new survey from learning company D2L and District Administration.
Dr. Mark Penny, superintendent of Lincoln County R-III in Troy, Missouri, believes every student can find success in public education, no matter their circumstance.
Among other insights, educators revealed that when they were students, the teachers and leaders of color they connected with were essential to their decision to pursue a career in education.
"We're actually calling 2024-25 'the bloodletting,'" said Dr. Marguerite Roza, director of the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University. "Public education has not seen a right-sizing, fiscal cliff, whatever you want to call it, of this magnitude at any time in the past, including the last recession. I think it's going to be quite shocking."
"We are a district on the rise now," says Putnam County Schools Superintendent Rick Surrency, after taking graduation rates from 54.9% to 92.5%. "We just passed a bond referendum of $300 million to essentially rebuild every school in our district."
In U.S. News' list of the top 100 "Best Jobs," you won't find an education-related job in the top 50. You will, however, find mental health support staff.
