2020 has been a challenging school year, to say the least, as there has been a shortage of 3,500 teachers. Chelsea Catarelli, a sophomore at the University of South Florida St.Petersburg, described the impact on students and what may be the cause of the current shortage.
When she first began school in 2016, she had to make some tough decisions on what she wanted to do. Catarelli started working at a preschool and fell in love teaching young kids. Yet, as she completed her 60 mandatory hours of observations, she decided that teaching 5th grade was where her heart belonged.
When deciding to become a teacher, Catarelli didn’t look at the salary or the fact teachers regularly have to buy their supplies. It was all about the children. She wanted to be able to help create a learning environment for children that would set them up for a successful future. She wanted to make a positive change in kid’s lives.
From the astounding number of teachers unemployed this year in Florida, it has affected over 300,000 children.
“There really is just a stronger demand for teachers but due to current teacher pay, the lack of supplies provided by the school board, and the environment and standards that are required no one wants to enter the field,” said Catarelli. “A lot of this is seen unfair, especially given the amount of work, time, and personal money teachers put into their classrooms. There is not a mass number of teachers leaving, at the moment, but there are not many entering the field and I think that is where the term ‘teacher shortage’ is coming from.”
What is the cause of this shortage? Florida ranks 46th in teacher pay and the average starting salary for a teacher in Florida is $37,636 a year. This has led to almost 40% of first-year teachers leaving and going to other states to find better living wages.
“I think that teacher pay should be higher,” said Catarelli. “There is so much that teachers put into educating students, like paying for their own education, paying for their own classroom supplies, providing for their students in some cases and they do not get paid enough for what they are doing.”
It is common for teachers to spend their hard-earned cash on their students. Whether that be school supplies, décor or paper. Most schools don’t give their teachers lined paper for their students to write on. Even though teachers are making a small salary, they’re still putting it right back into their classrooms because the school boards won’t provide teachers or schools enough money for supplies.
“Making teachers responsible for their own basic supplies like paper, staples/staplers, tissues, etc. is ridiculous. I think the school board should be responsible for the purchase of supplies,” Catarelli agrees.
Catarelli believes the classes and observation hours she’s completing are helping her further her education. The average cost of attendance at the University of South is $6,410 a semester. Given she’ll receive a four-year her student debt will be over $25,640, not including costs of certifications and testing. A teaching certificate can cost anywhere between $40-$200. The general knowledge test is the final test needed to graduate for one’s teaching degree priced at $200.
“A lot of the time teachers go out of state for school and programs may be a little different in Georgia than in Florida but the general concepts should be the same,” said Catarelli. “If we made the certification tests practically the same for every state, then it would make transferring a lot easier.”
How do we get more teachers in the classroom? The answer is simply, raise teacher pay. Even with the recent increase Governor DeSantis promised to raise the first-year teacher pay it’s still almost half the pay of some states. Let alone they don’t know when they will get another raise.
“I’m hoping that by the time I enter the school system they will be able to create a wage that I’ll be able to live on. I don’t want to work a side job just to be able to afford food and housing,” said Catarelli.
