OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — A growing teacher shortage has left district officials across the San Francisco Bay Area scrambling to fill classrooms, with critical shortages in science, math, special education and bilingual education.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports (http://bit.ly/1IWw5Nh ) many parents will find a substitute teacher, or even a credentialed central office staffer, leading their children’s classes when students begin returning to school this week.
Experts say retirements, high attrition rates and a lack of new recruits are all contributing to the shortage.
Oakland needed 77 teachers as of last week. School starts there on August 24.
In San Francisco, the district had to fill 465 teacher positions for the coming school year, compared with 400 last year. It filled its last open position Friday.
Labor leaders said they worry this year is just the beginning of major teacher shortages in coming years, fueled by untenable housing prices.
