SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – School is right around the corner and there’s a national teacher shortage. However, Springfield Public School officials say it will not delay the start of their school year.
School is back in session next week and the national teacher shortage is affecting schools across the country, including Massachusetts.
Lyndon Griffin from Springfield believes there’s a shortage because workers in the education field are not getting enough support, “The problem is there’s not a big enough incentive for people to go into the education field. I think once that is resolved, that they support teachers more, that shortage will quickly disperse.”
With this national teacher shortage, Springfield Public Schools Spokesperson Azell Cavaan says they are still hiring new teachers daily. She says Springfield Public Schools are not expecting to see a huge impact from this shortage when school starts back up.
“Schools and principals know how to work creatively, to make sure that maybe a teacher will share two classrooms or they make other provisions to make sure students have teachers in front of them,” said Cavaan.
According to the National Education Association, these educator shortages started before COVID-19 but the pandemic caused it to increase.
Cavaan says the school district is constantly finding creative ways to make sure students can get the education they deserve and despite this nationwide issue, she told 22News that school will still be up and running next week and that this shortage should not affect students learning experience.
