Strengthening the Educator Pipeline and Supporting Aspiring Educators
Across the nation, schools face a shortage of teachers, education support professionals, and other educators. The shortage of Black, Latino, and Indigenous educators is especially pronounced, and at the front end, fewer people are entering the profession. In a survey, 55 percent of NEA members said they were considering leaving the profession they love earlier than they’d planned because they feel overwhelmed and under-supported. This negatively impacts our nation’s ability to attract talented individuals to the profession.
The educator shortage is at crisis levels in rural communities and in areas including mathematics, science, special education, and multilingual education. Some states have responded to the crisis by lowering the requirements for teaching and increasing workloads. This is not the answer.
Educators love what they do—they just need more support to pursue and to maintain their passion for teaching and supporting students.
Solutions and opportunities include increasing pay and benefits; creating grow-your-own programs to recruit and prepare educators to teach and work in their local communities; fully funding teacher residency programs; developing apprenticeship programs using the residency model; expanding the Federal Work–Study program to include clinical practice; and providing high-quality professional development for educators at all stages of their careers.
