Officials for The New York State United Teachers say that while some teachers are dealing with burnout or evaluating their career path amid COVID-19, the vaccine and testing rules have not been a major factor in departures.
But NYSUT says keeping people coming into the career is essential to help students achieve their dreams.
“We definitely want our class sizes to remain manageable and small when we can, because we know that individualized instruction is really beneficial to students,” NYSUT Executive Vice President Jolene DiBrango said. “We need to make sure there are paraprofessionals and teacher aids with our teachers. We need to keep those staffing levels at a healthy level. And we are definitely seeing the impact of teachers not entering into teacher preparation programs.”
And while schools are dealing with some of those struggles, NYSUT says it is constantly working to help inspire future teachers. That includes programs to give potential recruits exposure to the field and opportunities to make a stipend while starting out.
“Our Take a Look at Teaching initiative looks to assist our local school districts in developing grow-your-own programs and future teacher clubs, so students in K-12 can start to examine a career in teaching by working with community colleges and four-year institutions … so they can go on campuses, talk with student teachers … to work with children in different age groups,” DiBrango said.
