Causes of Teaching Vacancies

Teaching vacancies seem to be looming larger than ever in many countries world wide. There are many speculations as to the causes of these vacancies. There are numerous assumptions, yet no hard proof. Until the causes are understood, the teaching population may remain largely understaffed.

Teacher Burnout

Many people believe that teachers only work during school hours, and during the school season. This is not accurate. Teachers are generally involved in curricular activity the majority of their day. They begin and end their days with planning sessions, lesson plans, grading papers, writing exams, and many other activities that generally remain unseen. Teachers who give their all to the job and the students typically suffer from high levels of stress and burn out rather quickly. Once burnout is reached, the teacher vacates the position, and few return to fill the vacancy left behind.

Salary

Many teachers cite a lower than average salary when vacating their position with the educational institution. These teachers feel that their work is of more integrated tasks than are defined in the job descriptions, and therefore should be more aptly compensated. Some teachers simply add night classes or summer school to their teaching options as a way to increase their yearly pay. This only leads, however, to a higher stress level and quicker burnout. Until a teacher feels that the money paid to him/her is acceptable, he or she will be more liable to vacate the position.

Budget

The school budget, created by the county government, often lacks funds to increase the pay scale of existing teachers. These impractical budgets also leave a large lack of funds to increase the teaching population, leaving many positions vacant. The lack of funds in the budget for teaching positions leads not only to the inability to hire applicants for vacant teaching positions, it also leads to the inability to offer pay raises to existing teachers, leading in turn to the dissatisfaction of many teachers with the pay rate they receive for their multitude of services to the institution.

Cost of Living

There is an assumption that teachers have to vacate not only their houses but their neighborhoods and therefore their jobs due to the increasing cost of living. The cost of living rises while the pay rate for teachers remains stable, making it less affordable for teachers to remain in the district in which they are employed. As many teachers are at least beginning to deal with stress and burnout, they would rather vacate their teaching position than lose their quality of life. The cost of living also contributes to vacancies by making a neighborhood less affordable for new teachers.

Lack of Administrative Support

Teachers are not the only staff members in educational institutions suffering from stress or burnout. As administration sees more student disciplinary problems, they become desensitized to their work. As the administrative staff becomes desensitized, they become less likely to assist teachers with disciplinary problems such as unruly students, students with learning disabilities, or any other type of problem that administrative staff generally give assistance to teaching staff for. As administrative staff becomes unsupportive, more stress is placed on the teacher to deal with these issues alone.

As all these causes begin to conglomerate, teachers are more easily discouraged and are more likely to leave their position. As more teachers feel the stress of their job weighing down upon them, teaching vacancies continue to rise.