Teacher shortage crisis

Why are teachers leaving – or never starting – the profession?

Publicly funded Ontario schools are staring down the barrel of the most significant teacher shortage in more than 30 years. Simply put, fewer and fewer new people are joining the teaching profession, and experienced teachers are leaving the classroom in concerning numbers and looking for new careers outside teaching.

This phenomenon is new to education in Ontario. Less than a decade ago, unemployment among newly graduated teachers ran at almost 40 per cent and competition for full-time positions was fierce. Today, over 40,000 certified teachers in Ontario are choosing to make careers outside education, and some boards like Trillium Lakelands (TLDSB) have been forced to hire unqualified staff to fill positions on their daily supply lists.

What has changed in such a short time period?

We discovered that teaching in Ontario is no longer seen as the attractive vocation it once was because of underfunding by the provincial government, violence directed towards teaching staff by students, lack of support from senior staff and parents to deal with disruptive student behaviours and several significant and lasting system-wide challenges caused by three years of the pandemic.

Underfunding the system

Kellie Kirkpatrick, branch president for the Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO), who represents all the TLDSB elementary teachers in the board, said that a chronic and calculated underfunding of the school system by the province is one of the crucial reasons for the current teacher shortage.

“The funding system for education has not been updated since 1997,” Kirkpatrick said. “Funding has not kept pace with student needs. Kids are not being properly supported. Violence in schools is directly related to a lack of funding and a broken funding model.”

The underfunding amount has been pegged at $6 billion between 2023-2028 so that the system can keep up with inflation and needs identified by the Financial Accountability Office of Ontario.

The Advocate spoke with several teachers, for whom we have provided anonymity due to their fear of administrative reprisal.

A veteran TLDSB teacher was blunt when they talked about the impact of underfunding in their daily teaching life.

“Underfunding means unmanageable class sizes,” they said. “Underfunding means not enough educational assistants to assist students who require separate programming. Underfunding means we regularly dip into our own pockets to buy classroom supplies, food for kids who come to school with no lunches and warm winter clothing for those who need them. It is bloody discouraging and it causes a lot of really good people to contemplate getting out of education.”

Another veteran TLDSB teacher said they, “have taken Trent teacher candidates for decades.”

“After a placement in my classroom (pre-pandemic) they told me during their last few days that they couldn’t believe what I dealt with every day and had no interest in continuing with education as a career.”

Classroom violence

Kirkpatrick believes student violence directed towards staff is the number one reason there is a teacher shortage in Ontario.

“Violence in the classroom is treated as a dirty little secret,” Kirkpatrick said. “We are not talking about it enough because student confidentiality gets in the way.”

The joint impacts of chronic underfunding and the often-dangerous classroom situations it creates have led to a record number of TLDSB elementary teachers accessing their board disability plan.

“Burnout is a real thing,” Kirkpatrick said. “Local members are looking for an off ramp (from teaching). When they feel they aren’t effective it eats at them. There is such a focus on student mental health, but not staff mental health. Educators give and give, but eventually you can’t pour from an empty cup.”

Bart Scollard, president of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA), Peterborough, Victoria, Northumberland, Clarington Catholic School Board Unit (PVNCCSB) agrees with Kirkpatrick about the corrosive effects of classroom violence, and the impact it has on teachers leaving the profession.

“I have witnessed a significant increase in teacher reported violence in schools since 2022,” Scollard said. “Teachers…have been punched, kicked, spat on, slapped, stabbed and received ongoing verbal abuse as well. Most notably the increase in violence is happening in kindergarten and our primary grades. This leads to education workers seeking medical treatment for their physical injuries and their emotional scars, and teachers…are leaving the profession due to the physical and emotional impact (of teacher violence).”

A recent OSSTF survey, referenced by Iggi van Kooten, branch president for the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF), indicates that the violence has already reached dangerous levels.

“Thirty per cent of teachers and eighty per cent of our educational assistants reported physical aggression at work,” van Kooten said. “(Locally) TLDSB superintendent Paul Goldring, in his presentation to the board in October 2023, reported 1,723 suspensions during 2022-2023. In addition, Goldring reported there were 40 violent incidents during the last academic year. It is my opinion that many of these incidents could have been deescalated had there been sufficient staff in our local schools.”

One potential teacher candidate whose program required him to volunteer in schools as part of his preparation for the profession dropped out of the education stream because of what he saw occurring.

“I saw in each of those four years the issue of discipline and children’s behaviours get worse,” they said. “One of the classes I taught in, 18 of 21 students were identified with behavioural issues. The final straw that made me drop out of the faculty of education was when Premier Ford announced he would remove student suspensions from the primary division of the elementary panel, taking even more power away from staff to keep their classrooms safe for students and themselves.”

A local civil servant, whose spouse is a TLDSB elementary teacher, described a typical week in their partner’s classroom.

“Not a week goes by without at least verbal abuse from multiple students,” they began. “My partner has been hit with both a stapler and a hole punch hurled by enraged students. They are afraid to let some of these children handle scissors. Their educational assistant has to wear a Kevlar vest to work with the student they are assigned. My partner wants out but my job is not portable…we aren’t sure what we are going to do. Not a week goes by when they don’t regret their choice of career.”

Lack of support from parents and administration

Staff interviewed for this article made it clear that a lack of administrative and parental support when dealing with disruptive students makes teaching intolerable and unattractive for all, causing many either not to enter the career or consider other career options.

“In difficult situations with students and their families,” Kirkpatrick said, “administration should have your back because when they don’t things turn into big issues and lingering struggles.”

Linda Shier, a retired long-time TLDSB teacher, echoes Kirkpatrick’s assertions.

“The teacher shortage may be partially due to the total lack of respect for public education (that currently exists),” Shier said. “Young people (considering teaching) know that there is no support from the government or the public. Sadly, this is not new and it is getting worse.”

“There needs to be a return to support for teachers from both parents and school boards helping instill student accountability and enforce consequences to create safe and productive classrooms,” another TLDSB staff member suggested.

“In the current climate,” the teacher wrote, “if a student is reprimanded at school, more likely than not the parents will be in, (saying) how dare their child be disciplined, rather than taking a moment to consider how their child behaved and what they could do to assist the classroom teacher. Because of this, principals are hesitant to suspend as they know parents will appeal, and that the school boards tend to side with parents over their own staff. Since school offices only hold so many students, and principals can’t spend all day monitoring in-school suspensions, this leads to students being back in classrooms that aren’t ready to receive them.”

Pandemic fallout

There was also general agreement among almost everybody we spoke with that three school years in a row disrupted by COVID-19 left the school system and its employees in a very precarious position.

Wes Hahn, director of education for TLDSB, believes that the pandemic had many negative effects on his board, and that it may take a while for the system to rebound.

“COVID-19 had a negative impact on potential teacher-candidates,” Hahn said. “Individuals who would have likely gone into teaching looked for other opportunities. Despite staff doing their best to teach online, for some potential new teachers that option did not look like fun. It is hard recouping that momentum of getting kids to consider teaching when thinking of a career. I think it will eventually happen but it is tough right now.”

Hahn went on to say that COVID-19 has not only disrupted the flow of new teachers into the system, but has caused a number of experienced staff to reconsider their career choices.

“Post COVID-19 has caused many staff to re-evaluate their lifestyles,” Hahn said. “Staff are refocusing on what is important, like taking care of elderly parents, and people have said we are done (with teaching). While our board has not seen it as much as others, COVID-19 took a toll on staff and a number I spoke to said they weren’t sure they wanted to do it (teach) anymore.”

One veteran Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington Catholic School Board teacher described pandemic teaching as the most difficult years of their entire career.

“I thought I had seen everything the system could throw my way,” they said. “Most of us could have dealt with the first disruption and taken that in stride, but as things stretched out you saw the toll it was taking on colleagues and our kids.”

“We lost a lot of good teachers to early retirement, people who coached and ran clubs. Occasional teachers lost their entire income as schools closed for months,” they continued. “Many of those promising young educators did not return to the job post – COVID, and now we are scrambling to cover classes when someone is out. If I wasn’t so far from retirement, I would be looking for another employment option too. COVID sucked the joy right out of teaching.”

The OSSTF leader, van Kooten points to an obvious way to fix the problem.

“It should come as no surprise,” van Kooten said, “that there have been issues attracting and retaining teachers and educational workers. Our education system is underfunded…by a cumulative $6 billion. This equates to less desirable working conditions for prospective teachers and education workers.”

Restoring that funding – and restoring administrative support for teachers, over problematic student behaviours – would go a long way in fixing these challenges.

Solutions to the teacher shortage crisis

OSSTF/OECTA/ETFO
• Fully fund the classroom to reflect inflation
• Currently there is a $6 billion shortfall in education funding

OSSTF/OECTA/ETFO
• A return to consequences when students misbehave and are disruptive to other student’s learning
• Better support from school administration and board personnel when teachers are faced with parents/guardians who believe their child is being wrongly disciplined and are not supportive of the classroom teacher’s decisions
• More staffing and supports in place to deal with student violence before it occurs and more serious discipline taken by boards when their staff are assaulted

Kellie Kirkpatrick – ETFO
• More university spots for teacher training
• End of the two-year teacher training program which is a year longer than it needs to be
• Extremely reduced tuitions for teacher’s college
• Possibility of free tuition so students from all backgrounds have a chance to attend the faculty and better represent all communities present in the school and community
• Rental subsidies for new staff trying to find accommodations in areas like Haliburton and Muskoka where supply is limited and existing stock is out of reach for a new teacher “Haven’t got the income to find a place to live”

Gabrielle Barkey – Ontario College of Teachers
• Quicker certifications of internationally educated teachers – already reduced the time from 120 days to 60 business days
• Quicker certification of graduates from Ontario teacher education programs – can be done in only a few days
• Since beginning of 2023 school year, have been allowing student teachers in Ontario education programs to accept paid work in the classroom while still completing their degree

Wes Hahn – Director TLDSB and a member of CODE (Council of Ontario Directors of Education)
• Signing and re-location bonuses for new staff willing to work in rural boards “If the province supplied the money in the GSN (Grant for Student Needs) grants it might be worth a try”
• Immediate stop gap to deal with shortage of supply teachers – “Board has screened and interviewed unqualified candidates and hired 40 (for the occasional teacher list). Some of them are really good.”