SAN DIEGO — Many schools here in San Diego as well as across the country are facing critical teacher shortages as we emerge from the pandemic.
Today, the head of the U.S. Education Department visited San Diego, providing his perspective on how to recruit and retain more educators.
"It is time to hit the reset button on a lot of things that didn't work," said Miguel Cardona, U.S. Secretary of Education, speaking Monday at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront.
Cardona participated in a fireside chat at the annual Summit on Improvement in Education, moderated by Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching President Timothy Knowles.
In his comments, Cardona made it clear that schools and districts must learn from the challenges posed by the pandemic over the past two years as we move forward.
"The pandemic shook our foundation," Cardona said. "It showed us the cracks in it."
Those cracks in many cases led to teacher burnout and subsequent resignations on a massive scale: some taking to social media to make the announcement, garnering million of views in the process.
On a local level, some districts are doing what they can to address teacher shortage, taking advantage of an executive order signed by Governor Newsom earlier this year to expedite the process to get an emergency 30-day substitute teaching permit, and also cutting the red tape for retired teachers to return to the classroom temporarily.
"We must change so that we improve," Cardona added. "We can not go back to March of 2020."
Cardona called for schools to use funds from the American Rescue Plan to address this shortage on a nationwide level, driving home the need for more 'teacher residency' programs, which would allow local schools to team up with colleges, providing aspiring educators who are still working on their degree an opportunity to work directly in the classroom as substitutes, tutors and special education assistants, and get paid in the process.
"For far too long, this notion of student teaching without any salary has kept people out of the profession," Cardona added, receiving rousing applause.
Cardona also called for an increase in teacher pay, as well as establishing scholarship programs for those studying to become teachers, and loan forgiveness programs for new graduates entering the teaching profession.
The federal government also unveiled its budget for the next school year earlier Monday, including doubling the funding for schools in high-poverty areas to $37 billion.
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