Yet Another Report Tells Us What Teachers Have Been Saying for Decades

This is a paid post, but a free version of the same piece is available here, courtesy of the Center for Educator Wellness and Learning (CEWL).

As the 2022-23 school year kicks into high gear, it appears that journalists and pundits have suddenly realized what was obvious to most people in the education profession already: we are in an unprecedented, serious, and potentially catastrophic crisis involving the recruitment and retention of willing teachers and other educational staff.

Just last summer, some researchers were saying the crisis was “overstated.” According to a Hechinger Report from last August,

“Among researchers, I think we’ve reached a consensus that there hasn’t been an exodus of teachers during the pandemic,” said Heather Schwartz, a researcher at RAND, a nonprofit research organization, which regularly surveys school districts around the country about their staffing. “I don’t see many district leaders saying we have a serious, severe shortage of teachers. I don’t see th…