TOLEDO, Ohio — Ohio's teacher workforce is facing a growing crisis that matches a nationwide trend: an excess of open teaching positions.
It's a problem school districts have been dealing with for more than a decade.
Then came the COVID pandemic, which worsened an already challenging situation by placing additional stress and work on teachers.
"As a teacher, you wear many different hats. So, you teach them and you educate them and you encourage them, and we work through social emotional skills," teacher Lawanda Fitzpatrick said.
The individuals tasked with educating the next generation said their workloads have increased since 2020. Now, we're seeing less and less of them.
"I think sometimes we are holding on to a traditional model of teaching that was based on starting the profession when you're 20 or 21 and you retire 40 years later, and that just may not be the model we need to be thinking about anymore," said Dawn Shinew, Dean of the College of Education at Bowling Green State University.
Money, the hours and work-life balance are some of the reasons why the number of new teachers entering the workforce has been on a steady decline, according to Shinew.
Data from The Ohio Department of Education shows it's been on a downward trend since 2014. Pair that with an increasing number of current teachers exiting the workforce and district leaders are left relying on substitute teachers to help balance the equation.
"At Toledo Public Schools, we have about 206 long term subs, which is about 12 percent of our teaching staff," said Dr. Treva Jeffries-Martin, Assistant Superintendent of HR at Toledo Public Schools.
"From a sub perspective, it's anywhere between five to, you know, about five subs a day in the district," said Kevin O'Shea, Superintendent at Otsego Local Schools.
All districts need substitutes but urban districts typically have to rely on them more than rural ones.
"Many times when they start in the classroom, this is probably a vacancy that will be there for the duration of the year," said Jeffries-Martin. "If it is one that is a teacher who is on FMLA or disability, then we would know how long that teacher is going to be out."
O'Shea said they don't have many vacancies where long term substitutes are needed. Their subs are usually called on a day-to-day basis.
"We are fortunate that a lot of times like in each of our buildings, we kind of have one person that we know is here pretty regularly. They're like the number one person on the list," O'Shea said.
When they have to make that call, people like Scott Bressler step in.
"I needed to do something else and having a master's in education, I think there's that little bit of me that always kind of wished I had taught. So I said, well, this is a good way to, to do it," explained Bressler.
There could be a sub for any number of reasons, but the push is to make sure students have consistency. Without it, their learning and progress could be disrupted.
"If that is a situation where a student has to have a substitute change, then that can be impactful. However, again, across the board we try to make sure that we equip all of our substitutes with tools to be successful," said Jeffries-Martin.
That's why Toledo Public Schools and Otsego Local Schools try to keep their subs in the same building. This helps them interact with the students and build a stronger connection.
"It's a whole different atmosphere when you know the kids and they know you. I do grade six through 12, so I watch these kids grow up,"
Back in 2020, during the pandemic, the state lowered the requirements for substitute teachers to help districts hire more people.
One year later in 2021, The Ohio Department of Education issued more than 36,000 substitute teacher licenses, hitting a 15-year high.
"Teachers are dealing with all of their student's mental health needs as well as trying to preserve their own health and avoid burnout. And we're asking a lot of these people," Shinew said.
We're nearly five years removed from the start of the pandemic and the solution to closing the gap isn't so easily solved.
"We talk about teachers often in their role as preparing for workforce and educating the workforce, but we often don't think about teachers as a workforce. In fact, that's probably a better way for us to be thinking about them," Shinew said.
Student teachers are one of the ways districts help supplement positions that aren't filled.
Districts such as Otsego are also tapping into their close-knit community for assistance.
"We're lucky to have retired teachers who want to come back and still be a part of it in a part time capacity or sub capacity," O'Shea said.
Larger districts such as TPS use other tools and programs, often called 'teacher pipelines'.
"This is a group of fifth through eighth graders who we're exposing to education and trying to provide positive opportunities for them to learn about the teaching field so that they can aspire to be educators in the future. So that's our long term pipeline," Jeffries-Martin said.
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Another pipeline in TPS is what they call para-professionals to teachers. That's how Lawanda Fitzpatrick got her license.
Fitzpatrick started as a teacher's aide in special education classes and now she's an intermediate teacher at Sherman Elementary School.
"I was nervous at first, I'm not sure if, if I'm capable of it," Fitzpatrick said. "I have other friends that are teachers and they said you're more than capable, you know, and we're, we're always here for you," Lawanda Fitzpatrick said.
Teaching wasn't what Fitzpatrick planned to do, and the path to getting her license was somewhat unorthodox. Now, she's found her rhythm.
"Being a teacher is being a motivator. So students don't always have the best confidence in their skills, especially in my class – special education. They're not used to being told that they can do something and sometimes they have a lot of self doubt," she said.
District leaders hope others will feel called to help lead and educate the future of our country.