Nationwide Shortage of Essential Workers for School Districts Has Gotten Worse

[BarryLaverty]

After years and years and years of very low pay, little benefits and erratic schedules, people have just sorta moved onto other things or it isn't worth it when they don't feel safe. I know our district can't get subs, I think, in part, because the pay is the same as it was 10 years ago. 

https://news.yahoo.com/bus-driver-ever-come-substitute-115341125.html

 

Will the Bus Driver Ever Come? Or the Substitute Teacher or Cafeteria Worker?

 

School bus drivers in San Antonio have been forced to drive multiple routes, leaving students to wait for long periods. (Matthew Busch for The New York Times)

Giulia Heyward

Thu, September 16, 2021, 6:53 AM·8 min read

n

 

In Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker is activating the National Guard to help with the shortage in bus drivers. In North Carolina, legislators are hoping to ease a cafeteria worker shortage by giving districts federal funding to cover signing bonuses for new hires. And some Missouri districts are wiping away some of the requirements to become a substitute teacher to attract more applicants.

Across the country, school districts are desperate to fill jobs. Some are struggling to retain counselors, teachers and principals, but a more urgent need seems to be for employees who have traditionally operated behind the scenes — cafeteria workers, bus drivers and substitute teachers — according to Chip Slaven, interim director for the National School Boards Association.

Many relatively low-paying industries, like restaurants, are facing worker shortages because of the pandemic. But school districts have for years struggled to recruit and retain workers, according to Slaven, because of the low pay, sparse benefits and erratic schedules.

 

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“You really have to look back before the pandemic,” he said. “You’re seeing a problem that was already bad become worse.”

The coronavirus has scared away workers who are wary of face-to-face interaction with children, and the federal government’s pandemic unemployment benefits, which recently ended, spurred some to wait for better opportunities.

The shortages have affected families, already under stress. Since the first day of classes, Melissa Minter has driven her three children every morning to middle school and high school in the Northside Independent School District in San Antonio. A severe staffing shortage has forced bus drivers to make multiple trips, turning what should be a 15-minute bus ride into an hour-and-a-half odyssey.

“My children are begging me to start picking them up in the afternoon, too,” Minter said. “My husband and I have talked about it — but we don’t know if there’s enough in our budget for more gas. It’s stressful.”

There are hundreds of unfilled positions in the district, according to Brian Woods, Northside’s superintendent — more than he has ever seen in his career.

The district is using funds from recent federal stimulus bills to hire more teachers, drivers, nutritionists, counselors and administrators.

“It’s ironic because for forever, schools have been underfunded and felt like they couldn’t do what they needed,” he said. “But now you have this federal funding. We have plenty of money. But the human capital is not there.”

Dona Rose Nero has been a bus driver in the Evesham Township School District, in Marlton, New Jersey, for 17 years, and receives health care benefits because her seniority allows her to add more hours. She works coveted midday shifts, in addition to both mornings and afternoons, for a total of six hours per day, or 30 hours per week.

Roughly half of the drivers in her district clock in at about five hours a day, with a starting hourly rate of about $20, according to the National Education Association, a union that represents school employees. The schedule makes it difficult to find other part-time jobs.

“They’re exposed to these kids, they’re driving in the dark, rain, snow and ice,” Nero said. “It’s a huge responsibility, and there are no benefits. You can’t even do anything else.”

And it isn’t just bus drivers. Cafeteria workers and substitute teachers struggle with inconvenient scheduling, lack of benefits and subpar pay.

Pearl West is a child nutrition manager for Gregorio Esparza Elementary School in the Northside district in San Antonio. The school needs an additional three workers just to get by, but she is struggling to find people to apply.

“It’s hard to appeal to them when the fast-food chain is offering $1 more per hour,” West said. “The pay is competitive with other school districts in the area, but as a whole, it’s not competitive with the cost of living.”

West works full time with four other employees to make close to 400 meals a day, but she still relies on welfare to make ends meet. West makes less than $25,000 a year.

Despite the low pay, West said she feels committed to her job because she wants to make sure her students get fed.

“We are really running on the smiles of our students that come in to see us every day,” West said. “That’s why we show up at 4:45 in the morning — we all know those kids by name. But when the cafeteria doors close, we sigh and our shoulders drop. It’s exhausting.”

Labor economists have been talking about this worker shortage issue for years, said Erica Groshen, an economist at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

“School districts have been able to underpay employees for a long time, and they’re discovering that they can’t do it anymore because of a serious decline in labor force participation now,” she said.

According to Groshen, increased unemployment benefits during the pandemic have given workers the leeway to pass up jobs with abysmal working conditions while they look for better employment opportunities.

“Because people have gotten relief payments, they don’t have to take the very first job that comes along,” she said. “They get to be selective, and hope that something better comes.”

In Santa Fe, New Mexico, Randy Mondragon has worked as a bus driver for 20 years, and his pay is slightly higher than the average, which is about $16.40 an hour, according to the district.

He works six days a week, usually topping out at 70 hours.

“There’s been only one day in the 22 years I’ve worked that they didn’t need me to drive a route,” Mondragon said. “We are the first and last ones that students see in the morning, so our job is very important and, sometimes, we don’t get that acknowledgment.”

Many of these workers are older. They often take on these jobs to supplement their Social Security checks. But with the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, many are choosing to retire early to reduce the risk of exposure.

Because of the substitute teacher shortage, Angie Graham, 51, a high school teacher in Fleming County, Kentucky, has been covering shifts for other colleagues. She is worried that if she gets sick, no one will be able to cover for her.

“I wear my mask, I wash my hands and I’m as cautious as I can be,” she said. “But I am scared.”

Most of the substitute teachers in her rural community are retired, looking for extra money or even just a reason to be social. But Graham said that she knows the pandemic has prompted many of them to leave.

“It’s just disheartening,” she said. “I looked at our school webpage today and saw all the jobs we need. It’s just rough times.”

In the Griffin-Spalding County School System, outside of Atlanta, Keith Simmons, the superintendent, shut down schools for a week after the death of two bus drivers and a bus monitor from COVID-19. The schools reopened Monday.

The district is now trying to hire more bus drivers, using incentives like $1,000 signing bonuses, and raising its hourly rate to as high as $16. In Delaware, a school district is paying parents $700 to transport their children to school.

Chris Horstman, who trains school bus drivers in Ithaca, New York, and drives a bus himself, says that the Ithaca city school district needs 11 more bus drivers to be able to “limp through” the rest of the school year. Ideally, they would be able to find another 25 workers.

“Employers should have been prepared,” he said. “We’ve been screaming this to them since before the pandemic — that the pay has been low. Districts across the country have not stepped up to the plate.”

Some employers hope that the end of federal unemployment benefits will push more people to apply for these positions. Groshen, the labor economist, does not think that most schools will see a big upswing in applicants.

“Some states ended unemployment benefits early, so there is already some research,” Groshen said. “And when you look at the studies, there was some effect in the market from unemployment ending, but it wasn’t very large.”

For school leaders like Woods, of San Antonio, the staffing shortage has put a damper on what should have been the happy return to a normal school year.

“Folks are really disappointed because we have got to continue to adjust,” he said.

For her part, Minter continues to drive her children to school.

When she recently joined her son at school for a birthday lunch, she heard him talk with his classmates about the bus.

“He was upset because he was on the first run, but now he’s been placed on the second,” she said. “That’s what all the kids are complaining and talking about. It’s the bus.”

[Monte1076]

Is that why Massachusetts has brought in the National Guard to drive buses?

https://boston.cbslocal.com/2021/09/13/massachusetts-national-guard-activated-school-bus-driver-shortage/

[RETIREDFAN1]

Every school I drive past has the old "hiring bus drivers" sign on the front..........my last school the young coaches wouldn't get their CDL......used to be that was a part of the job requirements.......

[BarryLaverty]

Just now, Monte1076 said:

Is that why Massachusetts has brought in the National Guard to drive buses?

https://boston.cbslocal.com/2021/09/13/massachusetts-national-guard-activated-school-bus-driver-shortage/

I believe so. For years and years, it was generally retired men and women in places I worked that did most of the driving. They are opting out these days. 

[BarryLaverty]

Just now, RETIREDFAN1 said:

Every school I drive past has the old "hiring bus drivers" sign on the front..........my last school the young coaches wouldn't get their CDL......used to be that was a part of the job requirements.......

One of the first things I had to go when I was hired 33 years ago, and I have had to keep it up until recent years. 

[RETIREDFAN1]

Just now, BarryLaverty said:

One of the first things I had to go when I was hired 33 years ago, and I have had to keep it up until recent years. 

Kept mine until I got out of coaching........

[ConservativeCitizen]

1 minute ago, BarryLaverty said:

One of the first things I had to go when I was hired 33 years ago, and I have had to keep it up until recent years. 

This a topic we can all agree on. The good people in education have been underpaid for a very long time. 

[CarthDawg77]

24 minutes ago, BarryLaverty said:

After years and years and years of very low pay, little benefits and erratic schedules, people have just sorta moved onto other things or it isn't worth it when they don't feel safe. I know our district can't get subs, I think, in part, because the pay is the same as it was 10 years ago. 

https://news.yahoo.com/bus-driver-ever-come-substitute-115341125.html

 

Will the Bus Driver Ever Come? Or the Substitute Teacher or Cafeteria Worker?

 

School bus drivers in San Antonio have been forced to drive multiple routes, leaving students to wait for long periods. (Matthew Busch for The New York Times)

Giulia Heyward

Thu, September 16, 2021, 6:53 AM·8 min read

n

 

In Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker is activating the National Guard to help with the shortage in bus drivers. In North Carolina, legislators are hoping to ease a cafeteria worker shortage by giving districts federal funding to cover signing bonuses for new hires. And some Missouri districts are wiping away some of the requirements to become a substitute teacher to attract more applicants.

Across the country, school districts are desperate to fill jobs. Some are struggling to retain counselors, teachers and principals, but a more urgent need seems to be for employees who have traditionally operated behind the scenes — cafeteria workers, bus drivers and substitute teachers — according to Chip Slaven, interim director for the National School Boards Association.

Many relatively low-paying industries, like restaurants, are facing worker shortages because of the pandemic. But school districts have for years struggled to recruit and retain workers, according to Slaven, because of the low pay, sparse benefits and erratic schedules.

 

Sign up for The Morning newsletter from the New York Times

“You really have to look back before the pandemic,” he said. “You’re seeing a problem that was already bad become worse.”

The coronavirus has scared away workers who are wary of face-to-face interaction with children, and the federal government’s pandemic unemployment benefits, which recently ended, spurred some to wait for better opportunities.

The shortages have affected families, already under stress. Since the first day of classes, Melissa Minter has driven her three children every morning to middle school and high school in the Northside Independent School District in San Antonio. A severe staffing shortage has forced bus drivers to make multiple trips, turning what should be a 15-minute bus ride into an hour-and-a-half odyssey.

“My children are begging me to start picking them up in the afternoon, too,” Minter said. “My husband and I have talked about it — but we don’t know if there’s enough in our budget for more gas. It’s stressful.”

There are hundreds of unfilled positions in the district, according to Brian Woods, Northside’s superintendent — more than he has ever seen in his career.

The district is using funds from recent federal stimulus bills to hire more teachers, drivers, nutritionists, counselors and administrators.

“It’s ironic because for forever, schools have been underfunded and felt like they couldn’t do what they needed,” he said. “But now you have this federal funding. We have plenty of money. But the human capital is not there.”

Dona Rose Nero has been a bus driver in the Evesham Township School District, in Marlton, New Jersey, for 17 years, and receives health care benefits because her seniority allows her to add more hours. She works coveted midday shifts, in addition to both mornings and afternoons, for a total of six hours per day, or 30 hours per week.

Roughly half of the drivers in her district clock in at about five hours a day, with a starting hourly rate of about $20, according to the National Education Association, a union that represents school employees. The schedule makes it difficult to find other part-time jobs.

“They’re exposed to these kids, they’re driving in the dark, rain, snow and ice,” Nero said. “It’s a huge responsibility, and there are no benefits. You can’t even do anything else.”

And it isn’t just bus drivers. Cafeteria workers and substitute teachers struggle with inconvenient scheduling, lack of benefits and subpar pay.

Pearl West is a child nutrition manager for Gregorio Esparza Elementary School in the Northside district in San Antonio. The school needs an additional three workers just to get by, but she is struggling to find people to apply.

“It’s hard to appeal to them when the fast-food chain is offering $1 more per hour,” West said. “The pay is competitive with other school districts in the area, but as a whole, it’s not competitive with the cost of living.”

West works full time with four other employees to make close to 400 meals a day, but she still relies on welfare to make ends meet. West makes less than $25,000 a year.

Despite the low pay, West said she feels committed to her job because she wants to make sure her students get fed.

“We are really running on the smiles of our students that come in to see us every day,” West said. “That’s why we show up at 4:45 in the morning — we all know those kids by name. But when the cafeteria doors close, we sigh and our shoulders drop. It’s exhausting.”

Labor economists have been talking about this worker shortage issue for years, said Erica Groshen, an economist at the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

“School districts have been able to underpay employees for a long time, and they’re discovering that they can’t do it anymore because of a serious decline in labor force participation now,” she said.

According to Groshen, increased unemployment benefits during the pandemic have given workers the leeway to pass up jobs with abysmal working conditions while they look for better employment opportunities.

“Because people have gotten relief payments, they don’t have to take the very first job that comes along,” she said. “They get to be selective, and hope that something better comes.”

In Santa Fe, New Mexico, Randy Mondragon has worked as a bus driver for 20 years, and his pay is slightly higher than the average, which is about $16.40 an hour, according to the district.

He works six days a week, usually topping out at 70 hours.

“There’s been only one day in the 22 years I’ve worked that they didn’t need me to drive a route,” Mondragon said. “We are the first and last ones that students see in the morning, so our job is very important and, sometimes, we don’t get that acknowledgment.”

Many of these workers are older. They often take on these jobs to supplement their Social Security checks. But with the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, many are choosing to retire early to reduce the risk of exposure.

Because of the substitute teacher shortage, Angie Graham, 51, a high school teacher in Fleming County, Kentucky, has been covering shifts for other colleagues. She is worried that if she gets sick, no one will be able to cover for her.

“I wear my mask, I wash my hands and I’m as cautious as I can be,” she said. “But I am scared.”

Most of the substitute teachers in her rural community are retired, looking for extra money or even just a reason to be social. But Graham said that she knows the pandemic has prompted many of them to leave.

“It’s just disheartening,” she said. “I looked at our school webpage today and saw all the jobs we need. It’s just rough times.”

In the Griffin-Spalding County School System, outside of Atlanta, Keith Simmons, the superintendent, shut down schools for a week after the death of two bus drivers and a bus monitor from COVID-19. The schools reopened Monday.

The district is now trying to hire more bus drivers, using incentives like $1,000 signing bonuses, and raising its hourly rate to as high as $16. In Delaware, a school district is paying parents $700 to transport their children to school.

Chris Horstman, who trains school bus drivers in Ithaca, New York, and drives a bus himself, says that the Ithaca city school district needs 11 more bus drivers to be able to “limp through” the rest of the school year. Ideally, they would be able to find another 25 workers.

“Employers should have been prepared,” he said. “We’ve been screaming this to them since before the pandemic — that the pay has been low. Districts across the country have not stepped up to the plate.”

Some employers hope that the end of federal unemployment benefits will push more people to apply for these positions. Groshen, the labor economist, does not think that most schools will see a big upswing in applicants.

“Some states ended unemployment benefits early, so there is already some research,” Groshen said. “And when you look at the studies, there was some effect in the market from unemployment ending, but it wasn’t very large.”

For school leaders like Woods, of San Antonio, the staffing shortage has put a damper on what should have been the happy return to a normal school year.

“Folks are really disappointed because we have got to continue to adjust,” he said.

For her part, Minter continues to drive her children to school.

When she recently joined her son at school for a birthday lunch, she heard him talk with his classmates about the bus.

“He was upset because he was on the first run, but now he’s been placed on the second,” she said. “That’s what all the kids are complaining and talking about. It’s the bus.”

This is what happens when you pay people to stay home from work & suckle the government teat.

[Olduy]

And have vaccine and mask mandates!

[EnjoyLife]

We have devalued low skilled labor to the point that for many people holding a job is simply not worth it. The real value (in todays $) of the federal minimum wage has declined by $5 an hour since the late 1960s. Not many people make mw (although Texas has more mw workers than any other state) but anyone making less than approximately $12.25 an hour today is making less than the mw when I was a kid...and that is tens of millions of workers. 

[PepeSilvia]

1 hour ago, RETIREDFAN1 said:

Every school I drive past has the old "hiring bus drivers" sign on the front..........my last school the young coaches wouldn't get their CDL......used to be that was a part of the job requirements.......

Still is part of the requirement here. They’ve made it so difficult to get a cdl in Texas that a lot of young coaches can’t get there’s within their first year. 

[RETIREDFAN1]

17 minutes ago, PepeSilvia said:

Still is part of the requirement here. They’ve made it so difficult to get a cdl in Texas that a lot of young coaches can’t get there’s within their first year. 

I got mine in 1993 so I wouldn't know about the new stuff.......

[CarthDawg77]

31 minutes ago, PepeSilvia said:

Still is part of the requirement here. They’ve made it so difficult to get a cdl in Texas that a lot of young coaches can’t get there’s within their first year. 

I had a CDL twenty years ago, it was required for the job I had. A couple years after I left that job, I got rid of the CDL because IF you have a CDL, & IF you get pulled over by Th’ MAN, you ARE  getting a TICKET, 100% of the time...

[PepeSilvia]

31 minutes ago, RETIREDFAN1 said:

I got mine in 1993 so I wouldn't know about the new stuff.......

I got mine right before they made it difficult. 

[PepeSilvia]

15 minutes ago, CarthDawg77 said:

I had a CDL twenty years ago, it was required for the job I had. A couple years after I left that job, I got rid of the CDL because IF you have a CDL, & IF you get pulled over by Th’ MAN, you ARE  getting a TICKET, 100% of the time...

I think it must be your amazing personality that made you get a ticket. I’ve been pulled over a couple of times and just got warnings. 

[CarthDawg77]

Just now, PepeSilvia said:

I think it must be your amazing personality that made you get a ticket. I’ve been pulled over a couple of times and just got warnings. 

That Could be it...

[Youngcoach123]

3 hours ago, ConservativeCitizen said:

This a topic we can all agree on. The good people in education have been underpaid for a very long time. 

I use to be and my wife still is a teacher. I don’t think the pay is that bad honestly. And we taught at poor schools. My wife brings home almost 90% of her check and has a pension. Me being in the private sector I bring home 55%. I make three times what she does but don’t bring home even double what she does. It really evens out if you ask me. I got a buddy coaching football that makes 30k less than me but brings in almost 1k a month more. 

[Olduy]

But why would someone want to be a bus driver when they cannot enforce discipline? I know some districts have bus monitors, etc but I imagine trying to concentrate on the road with the confusion on the bus might be difficult 

[BarryLaverty]

9 minutes ago, Olduy said:

But why would someone want to be a bus driver when they cannot enforce discipline? I know some districts have bus monitors, etc but I imagine trying to concentrate on the road with the confusion on the bus might be difficult 

You ask a valid question, but I have been fortunate enough to work in districts where bus riding can be considered a 'privilege', so bad actors can get kicked off. Buses generally also have cameras, and may do have monitors. Still, it absolutely does require nerves of steel and the ability to get along with kids of all ages for $20 a hour or less. 

[CarthDawg77]

22 minutes ago, Olduy said:

But why would someone want to be a bus driver when they cannot enforce discipline? I know some districts have bus monitors, etc but I imagine trying to concentrate on the road with the confusion on the bus might be difficult 

Back in my day, we had a bus driver name Mr. George Smith, & he was also the Industrial Arts teacher; he always had a good paddle & would certainly not hesitate to apply it to the backside of people who misbehaved on his bus #8.... If by chance, he managed to break that board on someone’s butt, he would have a fresh one onboard the following day! People behaved much better then than they do nowadays, for some reason..,