Teacher Shortage Compounds Covid Crisis in Schools

As if the pandemic weren’t disruptive enough, many American schools are facing a growing shortage of teachers.

School districts are recruiting parents as substitute teachers, online class sizes are soaring to 50 children or more and bus drivers are baby-sitting classrooms. Some are considering allowing asymptomatic teachers who were exposed to Covid-19 to continue to show up.

Public-school employment in November was down 8.7% from February, and at its lowest level since 2000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.