With the U.S. seeing a widespread teacher shortage, John King, the Democratic candidate for Maryland governor and the former secretary of education under President Obama, spoke to Cheddar about what has been contributing to the issue. "We had a challenge around teacher retention before COVID. We don't pay teachers well enough. The working conditions are not good enough, but COVID exacerbated that," he said. "Now teachers are grappling with the consequences of the disruption to school that kids have experienced and disruptions of their everyday lives." 

Opening Bell

Behind the Worsening Teacher Shortage in Schools Across the Country

here to tell us why this is happening john King, Democratic candidate for Maryland Governor and former Secretary of Education under President Barack Obama, john Good morning. Welcome to the show. Why are teachers, why are teachers quitting in droves? What factors are contributing to this teacher shortage? Does the pandemic have a lot to do with it? Well, thanks for the opportunity to join me to talk about this important issue. Look, we had a challenge around teacher retention before Covid, we don't pay teachers well enough. The working conditions are not good enough, but Covid exacerbated that now teachers are grappling with the consequences of the disruption to school that kids have experienced and disruptions of their everyday lives. More mental health challenges for students. Students who are struggling academically because of all the disruptions. So we really need to be aggressive in supporting teachers. We gotta raise pay and improve working conditions and we gotta get kids the support they need. So to your point, we know teachers are burnt out, they're stretched thin, they're underpaid what's the solution here? How do we restructure schools to be a little less stressful for our teachers? Well, look, one of the key things is addressing students, socio emotional needs. I was talking to a school counselor the other day in Prince George's county here in Maryland who's responsible for supporting nearly 700 students and families. That's impossible, impossible for her. But it also means teachers don't have that resource to go to when students are struggling with social emotional needs, anxiety, depression, So forth. And so we've really got to invest in school counselors and mental health services. We've Gotta, I believe mobilize a tutoring corps to help kids make up ground academically and we've got to raise teacher pay. I've proposed getting to a starting salary of $60,000 for teachers in Maryland by next year. I hate bringing this up. But is it is our unfortunate reality. I have to bring up what happened in new quality. I covered Newtown, I covered Parkland. What do you think? This is also playing a role in the short? It's just what we're seeing in our country. What psychological toll does it have? Not only on our students as we talk about, but our teachers. Look, it takes a huge toll on, on students and teachers. You know, my, my kids go to my government, my, my daughters have gone to Montgomery County public schools. One of my daughters is in high school, her high school last week had a incident where there was someone seen outside the school with a gun. They put the school on lockdown. My daughter texted me from hiding beneath a table in her classroom. This is Ridiculous what we are doing as a country. We of course need to get a real action on gun laws so that we protect our kids and teachers. But yes, it takes a toll. It takes a toll emotionally on parents and on teachers. When folks don't feel safe in school. I'm so sorry your daughter had to go through that my 12 year old has these drills too. And it's absolutely terrifying. I'm so glad everything was okay. What does a teacher shortage mean for our students, john, how can we ensure that our kids are getting a good education? Well, it means our kids are missing out on opportunities if a school can't find enough science teachers and they often end up not being able to offer an advanced placement class in chemistry. If schools can't find enough teachers in early grades, class size goes up and students get, don't get the attention that they need. So we've really got to make sure we recruit teachers. There was an earlier segment about student debt. I believe we ought to cancel student debt for all borrowers. Believe president biden should do that in Maryland. One thing we've proposed is an arrangement where when teachers commit to work in a school where it's hard to staff or in a subject area where it's hard to staff like bilingual education or working with students with disabilities, that the state should cover the cost of their education because they're investing their time and service for our students. We should invest in their education. Sure. I have about a minute left left, districts are warning that this teacher shortage is only going to get worse john. So what happens next? Well we really have to take action and in, in Maryland. You know, one of the things I, I'm committed to and running for governor is making sure that we invest in our public schools, that we make the investment necessary to raise teacher pay, improve working conditions. And we need to do that as a country. The success of our country depends on the strength of our public schools. It's really the foundation of preparing students for the workforce, but more importantly, preparing them for citizenship and productive lives. And so we've got to prioritize this and we've got to make sure we support the other folks who work in school, school counselors, the folks who are bus drivers, the folks who are paraprofessionals, all of our educators are so important to our kids success, john King, thank you so much for your time and insight. We hope you come back soon, john, thank you. We really appreciate your time.