Comments on: Escambia Schools Have Just 47 Open Teacher Positions

By: THE DOER

THE DOER — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 23:29:15 +0000

K Paul:
Yes, that’s the point. We have people coming in to fill the positions, which is great, but sadly many have degrees in anything. They are not certified teachers and are not specialists in their fields.

By: Becky

Becky — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 14:05:29 +0000

Becky, speaking as someone who works for the District and has some insider knowledge, NO, they won’t last. At least, not until/unless parents start backing up teachers when their kids act up. Not until/unless principals back up their teachers and hold students accountable, rather than being afraid of having “too many” referrals and sweeping them under the rug to make their numbers look better. Not until/unless teachers are trusted to do what they are trained to do, rather than being required to create online catalogs of their classroom libraries so parents can police them (most teachers are just packing up their books instead, FYI, rather than typing thousands of titles into some database… students have less access to books than they have had in 40+ years). Teachers and bus drivers are villanized at every turn, faced with constant disrespect and distrust, low pay, and terrible benefits. And then everyone wrings their hands and wonders why we have no teachers and no bus drivers! They aren’t supported by the government, their administrators, or the parents of their students. Why would they *WANT* to remain in those jobs?!

By: K Paul

K Paul — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 14:05:02 +0000

How many teachers do we have that ARE NOT certified to teach?

By: Community member

Community member — Tue, 01 Aug 2023 13:10:38 +0000

Yes, but how long will these newly hired teachers and bus drivers last? Will the district be able to retain them? I would like to see a followup article…