Current:Home > InvestIllinois has more teachers with greater diversity, but shortages remain -Infinite Edge Learning
Illinois has more teachers with greater diversity, but shortages remain
View
Date:2025-04-19 12:25:36
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The shortage of teachers in Illinois has slowed and even improved but gaps in critical areas, such as special education, remain and racial diversity among school leaders lags far behind that of the state’s pupils, according to a study released Thursday.
The review by advocacy group Advance Illinois is a follow-up to a 2022 survey examining the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on public education. The report found that the supply of new teachers and principals has gradually increased in recent years. And many have stayed in their jobs even during the difficult first two years of the coronavirus, which forced schoolhouses around the state to close and later go to virtual learning.
The possibility of filling leadership roles appears to be a bright spot. The report found that there are enough teachers in the state who have completed credentialing to become principals. But those teachers are not distributed equally. Over half of the state’s school districts do not have a teacher qualified to step into the principal’s office.
“This topic, this question of how is our workforce doing, do we have supply to meet demand is complex with trends and challenges varying from position to position,” Ann Whalen, Advance Illinois deputy director of policy, said in introducing a panel discussion at City Club of Chicago, where the report was released.
The report’s findings came as a surprise in many areas. Despite the historic classroom disruption of COVID-19, the number of teachers, assistant principals and paraprofessionals, or classroom aides, grew by 7,000 from 2018 to 2022, reaching totals not achieved since 2009. During the challenging first two years of the pandemic, staffing levels were steady and even grew in some areas.
But newly trained candidates in special education and bilingual education lag behind demand and attrition is especially high among special education instructors. The number of paraprofessionals, key to helping classroom teachers provide individual attention, is declining.
“The paraprofessional today is experiencing, unfortunately, a structural problem in the economy where it’s, ‘Hey, I could go work at Walmart for $16 an hour,’” or get the same pay with more difficulties at a school district, said Illinois Rep. Carol Ammons, a Democrat from Urbana and member of the panel. “We’re making the decision for them when we don’t invest in a living wage for paraprofessionals.”
The teacher workforce is more diverse but not as much as the student body, the report said. It points to research that indicates diversity among the teaching corps benefits all students.
State officials responded to the pandemic with more flexible licensure, fueling the increase in teacher numbers, grants to areas of the state with shortages, and other initiatives, some of which existed before the pandemic. But the report notes that most of the new programs were financed with now-depleted federal pandemic-relief money.
veryGood! (562)
Related
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- California’s Newsom plays hardball in China, collides with student during schoolyard basketball game
- Indonesian police arrest 59 suspected militants over an alleged plot to disrupt 2024 elections
- Two hours of terror and now years of devastation for Acapulco’s poor in Hurricane Otis aftermath
- Opinion: Gianni Infantino, FIFA sell souls and 2034 World Cup for Saudi Arabia's billions
- Wife of Grammy winner killed by Nashville police sues city over ‘excessive, unreasonable force’
- How UAW contracts changed with new Ford, GM and Stellantis deals
- Democratic U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer from Oregon says he won’t run for reelection next year
- Pressure on a veteran and senator shows what’s next for those who oppose Trump
- Kate Hudson Reflects on Conversations With Late Matthew Perry About Trials and Tribulations of Love
Ranking
- US appeals court rejects Nasdaq’s diversity rules for company boards
- Judge orders federal agents to stop cutting Texas razor wire for now at busy Mexico border crossing
- Democratic Gov. Beshear downplays party labels in campaigning for 2nd term in GOP-leaning Kentucky
- Lionel Messi, with 8th win, becomes first MLS player to earn soccer's Ballon d'Or award
- The FTC says 'gamified' online job scams by WhatsApp and text on the rise. What to know.
- Abuse victims say gun surrender laws save lives. Will the Supreme Court agree?
- Boston Bruins exact revenge on Florida Panthers, rally from 2-goal deficit for overtime win
- 'I am Kenough': Barbie unveils new doll inspired by Ryan Gosling's character
Recommendation
Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time
Afghans in droves head to border to leave Pakistan ahead of a deadline in anti-migrant crackdown
UN agency in Gaza says urgent ceasefire is `a matter of life and death’ for millions of Palestinians
Pharmacists prescribe another round of US protests to highlight working conditions
Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
Biden administration takes on JetBlue as its fight against industry consolidation goes to court
Travis Barker Reveals Name of His and Pregnant Kourtney Kardashian's Baby Boy
Canadian workers reach deal to end strike that shut down Great Lakes shipping artery