By Kiara Cain
Throughout the nation there has been an abundance of teachers leaving the education system. Here at Shreve more teachers are leaving than are coming in. The number of subs and permanent subs are on a rise as classrooms are needing to be filled.
Recently at the Swamp, teachers Mr. Doughty, Ms. O’Neil, and Ms. Treme are among those who have left to teach at new schools or even just stopped teaching.
“Teaching is very rewarding and I love the impact I have on younger people, but this is not a job that ends after working an eight hour shift,” Devin Rachels said. “I think if you can not find a way to balance the demands of the job and your personal life you can easily burn out.”
Teaching can be a demanding job as meeting the educational needs of students can be difficult, especially as class sizes are beginning to rise as a result of educators leaving their positions.
I feel the biggest factor is the overwhelming lack of respect for teachers,” Courtney Norton said. “With class sizes continuing to grow and fewer teachers entering the profession the responsibility of teachers continues to grow.”
As class sizes are growing many teachers are finding it difficult to keep up with the demands. Although they love their jobs it is becoming increasingly harder to work one of one with students since there are so many.
“When you lose friends from a workplace it is always sad even if you are happy for them,” Hannah Cruz said. “Oftentimes those are the people that brighten your day.”
Those who stay are now faced with the challenge and sadness of seeing those who they are close to gone.
A significant amount of classrooms are being filled with permanent substitutes, therefore students are also being affected. They are not able to receive a proper education that is preparing them for state tests, finals, and life.
“The amount of teachers leaving is worrying me because their roles are so important,” Abdelsalam Zeidan said. “If all the teachers who care about us leave, what does this mean for the future children?”
“It is really sad that so many good teachers are deciding to leave. The school is completely different from when we started and it makes me worry for the future,” Landry Tippett said.
“I think it shows the current state of the school when so many teachers are leaving for better opportunities,” Darren Cannon said. “Maybe there are some underlying factors but ultimately we must help stop our teachers from leaving.”
School is a place where students come to learn and many are becoming worried about their future and those after them.
Sadly both teachers and students have to adapt to this changing environment and make due with what is happening. As there is an ongoing teacher shortage, finding educators has become a difficult task all over America.
“Good teachers are hard to find, and even more difficult to replace.” Cruz said.