School districts make efforts to recruit, retain teachers for next school year
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Shontiva Pigram says she’s a proud educator who wakes up everyday knowing she’s got a purpose to educate and build students up.
“So it allows me to teach my students skills that they can apply in everyday life,” Pigram said.
However, Pigram at the end of the year will join the hundreds of thousands of teachers who have left the classroom in the last four years.
According to the National Education Association data by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2022, there were 567,000 fewer educators in public schools than there were before the pandemic.
That number even larger today with former teachers finding new careers.
“I also enjoy and have a passion to be an entrepreneur. So for the last four years, I’ve been juggling being a full time teacher and also being a full time entrepreneur. So I had to make a decision,” Pigram said.
In a 2022 the National Education Association took a poll showing 55% of teachers express they plan to quit their current education roles earlier than they originally intended.
The U.S. Department of Education tracks the national teacher shortage, with a data map that can be accessed here.
Pigram says she’s one of few math teachers at her school that’s task with teaching several classes in different grades.
“So I’m not saying that money is always the motivation, but we wear so many hats, not just teaching like we’re counselors, we’re mother figures and father figures, and we take on so many responsibilities with the students, depending on what school we it,” Pigram said.
Memphis Shelby County Schools board member Keith Williams says the district is doing all it can to fill more than 200 teaching vacancies.
“I would call it typical. And statistically, I outlined with the rest of the nation. I think the teaching profession is losing teachers because of its stance and credibility and its value for what teachers bring to the table,” Williams said.
Williams says with new teachers coming in more veteran teachers are deciding a career change or retiring.
“Last year it was new teachers because we were recruiting, but now we find we lose an old when we get the new ones. And that could contribute to two things lack of growth in the school,” Williams said.
Pigram says with her decision to leave the classroom it’ll open her options to go back to being a student.
“So one of my goals also is to go back to school for leadership. So I’m not opposed to getting back into education. I just don’t think that I’m beneficial inside the classroom,” Pigram said.
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