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Writing A Proposal Teacher Shortage Causes and Solutions Taylor Imhoof 011767754 Anna Storm 3/14/2024 Problem: There is a large teacher shortage in the United States today. With this teacher shortage comes lower graduation rates, disruptive learning environments, and a threat to students' ability to learn. Significance of the Problem: There are many reasons why teachers are leaving the work field, however, there are also many ways that can be prevented. According to Elevatek12’s blog titled “What Caused the Teacher Shortage?”, teachers are leaving because of low salaries, high workloads, unrealistic expectations, working conditions, and the feeling of being under appreciated. Without teachers, students cannot be expected to get the education that they deserve. The teacher shortage in public schools today has not only effected teachers and school districts, but the students themselves as well. Students today are not getting the education they need which leads to lower graduation rates. These declining graduation rates makes it harder for students to continue on to college and obtain a good job. Statement of Purpose: The best solution to the teacher shortage is to reduce teachers' workloads, boost teacher pays, and better their working environments. To implement this solution, we should hire more paraprofessionals to help aide the teacher in the classroom, use any available grants that are offered to better the school districts, and open up more classrooms in order to lessen classroom sizes today. Course of Action: The school districts can follow these three steps in order to strengthen teachers desires to continue working in a profession they once loved:

1. Hire More Paraprofessionals: Paraprofessionals are described as trained aides hired to assist a professional, such as a teacher. By hiring more paraprofessionals this will eliminate some of the main teacher’s responsibility in the classroom. Teachers have a large workload and oftentimes it can cause them to feel defeated and exhausted because there is just not enough time in a day to get everything done. Paraprofessionals are not required to hold a degree, so they are easier to come by. By hiring more help in a classroom, this will improve teacher-student ratios, individualized support, and give students more instructional support. (paracenter.org) 2. Grants: There are many grants and resources available to schools and districts nationwide. More than $170 million is being used to recruit, select, support, and retain teachers and school leaders. (Raise the bar: Eliminate the educator shortage | U.S Department of Education). There is also a program titled, Education Innovation and Research, which provides additional resources to support current teacher recruitment and retention. By using these offered grants, school districts can better their schools and working environments. Teachers with more training and resources are better prepared for the classroom and any troubles that come with. According to Education Week, “5 Strategies to Tackle Teacher Shortages”, teacher preparation programs need to be updated. It is mentioned that these programs today are not fully preparing teachers for the classroom and behaviors that occur in the classroom. By using grants, teachers can attend better programs and be more prepared to enter the classroom. 3. Downsize the Classroom: Many classrooms contain upwards of 30 students at once. With this many students, it is easy for teachers to feel overwhelmed and exhausted at the end of every day. Many teachers have children of their own at home that they need to tend to after tending to 30+ students for 8 hours at work. By opening up more classrooms, this allows for smaller class sizes. Smaller class sizes allow the teacher to tend to their students and their education better. It is hard to know when all your students are retaining information when there are 30+ students in your class at once.

Challenges: There could be different challenges that can be encountered during this process. By downsizing the classroom and obtaining more paraprofessionals for help in the classroom, there may be a problem during the hiring process. Hiring more staff could be an issue if they do not feel as if the pay is enough. By offering a pay that can be respected, the hiring process can go smoothly. Using grants and fighting for better pay as a school district, schools can pay staff, whether they are teachers or paraprofessionals, the wage that they deserve. Conclusion: In conclusion, the massive teacher shortage that is affecting America and our students today, can eliminated by listening to the main reasons teachers are quitting their profession and finding solutions to those problems. Teachers go to school to become teachers because they want to help the children. The children are not getting their rightful education because teachers do not feel respected by staff, students, and parents, they are not obtaining a livable wage, and they feel exhausted by their workload. More staff need to be hired to help these teachers, they need to be paid more, and they need to feel supported as they are shaping the young minds of todays generation. Sources: Langreo, L. (2023, February 13). 5 strategies to tackle teacher shortages . Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/5-strategies-to-tackle-teacher-shortages/2023/02 The Par2a center. (n.d.). https://paracenter.org/parents/faq/why-do-schools-employ- paraeducators Raise the bar: Eliminate the educator shortage . Raise the Bar: Eliminate the Educator Shortage | U.S. Department of Education. (n.d.). https://www.ed.gov/raisethebar/educators What caused the teacher shortage?: Elevate K-12 . Elevate K12. (2023, December 15). https://www.elevatek12.com/blog/elevate-in-action/why-is-there-a-teacher-shortage/

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