Virginia’s teacher workforce is smaller, unhappier and less qualified than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic, Virginia’s bipartisan legislative oversight agency said in a report Monday that steps needed to address the problem. He urged the state to increase funds.
Joint Legislative Audit and Review Committee (JLARC) staff also found that in addition to previously reported declines in academic performance, school staff are experiencing more student behavioral and mental health problems. he told MPs.
“We all knew, in our hearts and from personal experience, that COVID-19 was impacting our families and children incredibly badly. As we’ve all just heard, we have hard data — cold hard data — showing us that we’re in danger,” said Secretary of Education Amy Rogstad Ghidera. After the presentation, he spoke to members of parliament.
To compile a report on the impact of the pandemic on K-12 public education, JLARC staff reviewed academic research. Conducted interviews and focus groups. Analytical data about school staffing, evaluation and academic performance. We then conducted a survey of a “representative” sample of all school departments and school personnel.
School district leaders overwhelmingly told the board that the pandemic has made it more difficult to recruit and retain teachers.
In August, the Virginia Department of Education collected data from 111 school districts and found approximately 3,300 teacher vacancies. This is a 25% increase from the numbers those departments reported in his October 2021. There is also an increasing number of teachers who are not fully licensed or have retired. -of-field – means, according to the report, that they teach a different subject than the field of accreditation.
In response to a JLARC study, teachers identified problems that lead to poor job satisfaction, ranging from student behavior and mental health to low wages, “lack of respect” from parents in general, and increased workload due to vacancies. , the report said.
According to the report, school district leaders believe that “costly, long-term changes” such as raising salaries, reducing class sizes, and minimizing standardized testing will not address these concerns. I thought it would be most useful for
JLARC also highlighted the problem of students missing classes during the pandemic and not having the internet access or technology needed to fully participate in virtual learning.
About 19% of students statewide were chronically absent in the 2021-2022 school year, missing 10% or more days, only some of which were due to isolation and illness. said the report.
School staff told JLARC that behavior became a major issue after students returned to face-to-face learning. In most reports, both the number and severity of behavioral problems increased.
According to the report, half of school staff report that student anxiety and mental health are “very serious problems”.
The JLARC report analyzed 2021 and 2022 State Department of Education survey data and found that 3% of middle school students and 4% of high school students said they had attempted suicide at least once. According to the same data, 10% of junior high school students and 13% of high school students thought so.
A report that found high vacancy rates for school psychologists recommended that the General Assembly allow psychologists from other disciplines to be provisionally licensed in school settings.
Congress also proposed: Provides temporary funding to hire more teaching assistants. Provides temporary funding for retention and recruitment bonuses and helps with tuition to help teachers become fully licensed.
Republican Rep. Lee Ware, a retired teacher, said Monday’s findings were “appalling.”
Democratic Senator Jeremy McPike told Secretary Gaidella that the state has underfunded public education for 20 years.
“I hope the governor is in a substantial and meaningful position within the budget to fund these schools,” he said.
Governor Youngkin plans to present to lawmakers later this year a draft budget that will serve as a starting point for the 2023 General Assembly. He also previously called on school districts to begin work to allocate unused federal relief money allocated for education.
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