Classes in the West Ada School District seem to be fuller and more crammed each year. Teachers are responsible for every child in their class and overfilling puts a lot on their plate; Schools all over the district are being exposed to this problem. There are solutions to this, but teachers are becoming harder to hire.
According to hmhco.com, “Researchers generally agree a class size of no larger than 18 students is required to produce the desired benefit.”
In the last couple of years, the number of children in classrooms has grown rapidly. One of the causes of this understaffing was the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to IdahoNews.com, “As schools struggle to manage these unusual obstacles caused by COVID-19, the West Ada School District is trying to find a solution to these staffing shortages. As of July, it raised for wages custodial and maintenance staff from $10.45 to $12.45 an hour.”
Although the district is struggling, at least it has been able to give staff a few extra dollars in their pocket. The overload of kids can be stressful for the teachers in charge of everyone.
“Absolutely, it’s very different and a lot harder. It’s harder to connect with the kids and harder to teach them all,” said teacher Melanie Clark.
With so many kids crammed in a classroom, it might feel like the teachers are watching them rather than teaching them. Trying to teach a full class and create a bond with each student is very hard. Teachers are becoming more difficult to find these past few years because of lack of enjoyment and respect.
“I think it’s a combination of the pay and not feeling respected. I’ve been teaching for 10 years and kids have more emotional needs,” Clark said, “Society doesn’t value teachers as much.”
For teachers to want to continue doing their job, a solution needs to be developed. Currently in the United States, there are a few solutions, but none are long-term.
“The only one [solution] that I know of is retirement incentive. Teachers were able to come out of retirement and teach while getting retirement pay and teacher salary,” Clark said.
This is a good incentive to get teachers to come back, but it doesn’t necessarily give schools younger teachers who understand the new emotional needs of students. It provides extra money, but most of the teachers only stay a short period of time. It is important for West Ada to find a solution because there are many unfilled positions in the district.
According to Idahonews.com, “Currently, there are 339 unfilled positions in the West Ada School District.”
With positions understaffed and students overfilling classes, the school is very uneven. Teachers are stressed, solutions are trying to be established. The whole district is unprotected from this problem.
