CHICAGO — Weeks after Illinois students began what is predicted to be a more “normal” school year, a steep shortage of teachers and other essential employees is forcing many administrators to take an all-hands-on-deck approach.
“While things may be feeling a bit more regular with the start of this school year, especially after two years of the pandemic, we still have a major staffing crisis in many of our districts,” said Kathi Griffin, president of the Illinois Education Association, the state’s largest union.
A majority of the union’s roughly 135,000 members are seeing shortages in their districts in both teaching and support staff positions, including bus drivers, custodians, paraprofessionals and secretaries, Griffin said.
