ESSER funds have contributed to 66% of job openings since the height of the pandemic in 2020, yet hires have only risen by 38%. Districts are creating jobs faster than they can fill them.
Despite ongoing reports of teacher shortages, superintendents are having to make tough personnel decisions as COVID-era budget surpluses turn to post-pandemic shortfalls that have been compounded by enrollment declines.
Our K12 education system has been like a footprint hardened in concrete: durable and lasting but resistant to change despite prolonged exposure to nature's elements.
"Who was I to think that I could tell them what they needed or wanted in their own community?" says Dr. Margaret Crespo, superintendent of Laramie County School District-1 in Wyoming. Using this mindset, she now has a living, adaptable strategic plan.
A Parents Bill of Rights just introduced by House Republicans seeks to codify many freedoms that families already enjoy when it comes to their schools but could also whittle away at superintendents' decision-making power.
"The County likes to say that they are focused on recruiting and retaining quality educators to provide the best learning experience for our students," a news release from the teachers union states. "What they've proposed, however, will only drive existing teachers away to higher paying counties — and does nothing to make Baltimore County attractive to new teachers."
Superintendent Anmarie Swanstrom's already impoverished California district will lose a significant chunk of its budget if Congress does not renew the Secure Rural Schools Act, a longstanding program for schools in forested counties.
