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New York state needs some 180,000 new teachers over the next 10 years to meet the workforce need, according to Gov. Kathy Hochul. As part of efforts to close that gap, Hochul announced last month that the state is creating a teacher residency program that would match funding for districts to launch their own residency programs with local colleges for graduate-level candidates. The state also plans to expand alternative teacher certification programs, in which aspiring teachers apprentice in districts while pursuing a master's degree, \"to make it easier and more appealing for professionals in other careers to become teachers,\" the governor's office said.

Squier sees an \"untapped pool\" of candidates in professionals who want to enter education, but that the credentialing process could become more streamlined.

\"How can we make it easier for them to become certified and get them into the schools and teaching?\" he said. \"We have to do more with filling that pipeline of people who want to become teachers, especially teachers of color and more male teachers.\"

\"PHOTO:
Columbus Dispatch via USA Today Network, FILE
PHOTO: Gabby Pasquinelly, left, who recruits for Reynoldsburg City Schools, interviews a woman during a job fair for substitute teachers in Columbus, Ohio, Oct. 4, 2021.
>

Support staff

Retention is a key component in addressing staffing issues, as low turnover helps reduce the demand for new teachers.

As schools returned to the classroom during the pandemic, some districts have focused on easing the workload of teachers through smaller class sizes, having more academic coaches at school sites and hiring more support staff like social workers and psychologists to meet student needs, Carver-Thomas said.

\"Teacher surveys have shown that during this time stress has been a major factor driving teachers leaving the profession, and so districts are thinking about how to reduce that stress on teachers,\" she said.

At Highline Public Schools, Enfield said they haven't seen a \"significant exodus\" of staff during the pandemic so far, but are thinking about the \"long game.\"

\"There is a lot of talk right at the national level, on social media, around teachers leaving, superintendents leaving, principals leaving. People are tired,\" she said. \"We're trying to invest in adult wellness and supporting our staff and listening to ways that we can help out.\"

One part of that has been hiring more counselors across the district. This school year, the district hired nearly a dozen school counselors using federal pandemic relief funds to ensure that each elementary school had a full-time counselor. The district will use increased state funding for counselors in high-need districts to continue to fund the positions, Enfield said.

\"That was a strategic investment that also signaled to our staff and our community that we recognize that we are going to likely have students with greater needs, and we don't want more of the responsibility for meeting those needs to fall on our teachers alone,\" she said.

Promoting the profession

Despite the challenges of the pandemic, now more than ever, educators also need to take this time to promote teaching as a career, school leaders said.

\"We should be honest about the challenges facing our educators today and, at the same time, continue to celebrate the wonders of the profession,\" Enfield said. \"It still is a magnificent profession and a great job and people will continue to choose to go into teaching because it's what they're called to do.\"

Marty voiced a similar sentiment, saying, \"It's a wonderful career and I think we have to try to market it as that way.\"

Teachers are also in the unique position of having future educators in their classroom. Squier said he was inspired to become a teacher after hearing his high school algebra teacher talk about how much she loved her profession.

\"We all have a part to play in fixing the teacher shortage,\" Squier said. \"I think it starts at home in our own schools and trying to show our students that this is a great profession.\"

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