This month the American Enterprise Institute published a report titled COVID-19 Is Creating a School Personnel Crisis. This report highlights the fact that more than 18 percent of all public and private school teachers and 27 percent of all principals are currently in the vulnerable age range that is the most at-risk for Covid-19.
As schools and districts consider all of the possible scenarios for the 2020-2021 school year, this report provides some considerations for staffing as some teachers and principals may have concerns about returning to campuses while there is still no vaccine for the virus.
The report details some possible policy options that schools and districts may want to adopt in order to protect vulnerable staff members, and some of these are very intriguing:
- Prioritize Teachers for Testing.
- Ensure Teachers’ Health and Safety.
- Create a Virtual Teaching Corps.
- Reassign Roles.
- Provide Early Retirement Incentives.
- Reduce Out-of-State Licensure Barriers.
- Partner with Schools of Education.
- Enable Teacher Certification Reciprocity.
These suggestions would provide solutions for schools and districts that may find themselves struggling with staffing issues for the 2020-2021 school year. Those staffing issues could be larger than anticipated if only considering educators who themselves fall into the at-risk categories. In addition to the individual staff members who are considered at-risk due to age or underlying health issues, there will be others who may also be seeking alternatives because they have children, a spouse, or other family members at home who fall into those at-risk categories and for whom they want to avoid all risks of bringing the virus into their homes.
Given our particular interest in exploring and providing educators with options and opportunities for alternative work situations, we find this report and what it proposes very interesting. It is quite likely that throughout the rest of 2020 and through 2021 we will begin to see an even wider range of career options emerge for educators. These options will allow educators to continue serving in the learning profession in new ways even if they fall into one of the at-risk categories, and we may also see more opportunities to tap into the skill and experience of retired educators who can serve in new roles to support an increased demand from families for more flexibility and alternative options such a full online learning.
But we are also curious about your thoughts on all of this…
- Do you think the new school year will bring even more changes than we have already seen in terms of learning environments and work options for educators?
- Do you fall into one of these at-risk categories? If so, what are your hopes for the future of education and the future of your career opportunities in the near term and long term?
- What other suggestions or ideas do you have for schools and districts beyond what is suggested in the recently published report from AEI?