Teachers union offers long-term solutions for nationwide teacher shortage

According to the official state vacancy report by the Virginia Department of Education, as of this summer, the Commonwealth had 10,499 essential vacancies.

[jrm]

None of this addresses a big problem: awful student behaviors

[charlessantee]

Give these teachers a raise problem solved!

[holachika]

None of those solutions matter, really. The biggest issues are: class size, enormous student/teacher ratios which lead to a toxic work environment, lack of prep time, a million required assessments, catering to parents who want special treatment for their kids, and all the extra “volunteer” requirements teachers do that cut into personal time - parent education nights/conferences/planning meetings, lessons prep. Yes, teachers need a living wage- obviously. But you couldn’t pay me to return to a toxic work environment due to basic lack of support and unrealistic, outdated, bureaucratic standards.

[drcharles]

The average teacher only lasts 15 years in the profession. We have to do long-term longitudinal studies on the health impact on teachers. Many teachers suffer from heart problems, obesity, cancer, and psychiatric problems. The teaching profession has numerous studies on how teaching limits age expectations.