Teacher Shortage Was Inevitable

An article in the Wall St. Journal this week highlighted yet another area of a labor shortage in the country that has been fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic:

“Burned out teachers are leaving the classroom for jobs in the private sector, where talent-hungry companies are hiring them‚Äîand often boosting their pay‚Äîto work in sales, software, healthcare, and training, among other fields. The rate of people quitting jobs in education rose more than in any other industry in 2021, according to federal data. Many of those are teachers exhausted from toggling between online and classroom teaching, shifting Covid-19 protocols and dealing with challenging students, parents, and administrators. According to LinkedIn, the share of teachers on the site who left for a new career increased by 62% last year.”

It was inevitable that COVID-19 would impact the field of education.

Public school teachers have long been the most-underpaid and under-appreciated groups of workers in our country.

The pay for teachers has been substandard for decades in the U.S. compared to many other countries, but the teaching profession always has attracted those who truly have a love for teaching and who have been willing to work for less pay in return for what had been a rewarding career path.

But it has been only fairly recently that teachers have become a favorite foil for the usual suspects (i.e,, Republican politicians) in our overheated political environment in which teachers are deemed the enemy and not worthy of respect.

Now, thanks to COVID-19, teachers have been pushed over the edge and are leaving the profession in droves for greener pastures where their skills, abilities, and work ethic actually are appreciated.

The Wall St. Journal article goes on to say:

“The exodus is worsening a nationwide teacher shortage and proving a boon to hiring managers in industries such as IT services and consulting, hospitals, and software development. Teachers‚Äô ability to absorb and transmit information quickly, manage stress, and multitask are high-demand skills, recruiters and careers coaches say. Classroom instructors are landing sales roles and jobs as instructional coaches, software engineers, and behavioral health technicians, according to LinkedIn.”

The Biblical admonition, “As ye sow, so shall ye reap,” finally has caught up with us — and teachers today now are able to take advantage of another, more-modern aphorism: “Take this job and shove it.”