Local districts struggle to hire teachers as start of new school year approaches

DREXEL HILL, Pennsylvania (WPVI) -- School districts across Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware are scrambling to fill teacher vacancies before the start of the year, as the nationwide teacher shortage takes root.

If jobs aren't filled, the impact on classrooms could be detrimental to both teachers and students.

"We'd like to be able to hire a full-time teacher. There just doesn't seem like to be a lot of people who want to do this work," said Daniel McGarry, the superintendent of Upper Darby School District.

With three weeks to go until the first day of school, the district still has 40 teacher openings. If those jobs don't get filled, up to 300 kids could take the classes they need at community college.

"If we can't hire a teacher here, we'll pay for you to go to Delaware County Community College. We'll pay your tuition, we'll pay for your books," said McGarry.

The superintendent called it a short-term solution to a massive problem.

The Pennsylvania State Education Association says there are 22,000 fewer people working in education than in 2020.

The School District of Philadelphia still has about 270 vacancies, and that's with almost 97% of jobs filled.

Charter schools in the city are suffering too.

"They go to different schools because they look for different things in a school, in an employer. Just as you want to find the best candidate, teachers want to find the best fit," said Jenna Strothers, the middle school principal at Laboratory Charter School.

The charter system held a job fair at the middle school Monday, hoping to fill four vacant jobs.

The teacher's union in Delaware called the teacher shortage a perfect storm.

"It is a big deal," said Stephanie Ingram, president of the Delaware State Educational Association.

Ingram says teachers are burned out from the pandemic, are finding higher-paying jobs elsewhere, and have serious concerns about school safety.

"The expectations that educators are having to work under are just too much," she said

There are more than 500 public school openings in Delaware. The impact could be higher class sizes and teachers taking on more sections, both are factors contributing to burnout in the first place.