Pueblo school district facing teacher shortage going into school year
Pueblo School District 60 is facing a teacher shortage.
In two weeks, all the schools in the district will be in session.
D60 has more than 17,000 students who attend the schools. The district says there are 21 vacancies, which include nine teacher spots. The district’s website shows on Monday night that there are 36 openings with 12 of those being teacher vacancies.
“What we are starting to see is the after effects of wage cuts and wage freezes for teachers and classroom supply budgets in schools being cut severely,” Pueblo Education Association President Suzanne Ethredge said.
She said the shortages could affect not only teachers, but students also.
Ethredge said the shortage is a big concern because classes could be covered by substitute teachers or classroom sizes could double.
“I think people just get to a point where they are very tired of it. Teaching has become a 24/7 job. It’s the amount of workload that teachers see in their classrooms. It’s everyday walking in and not knowing if you may have enough materials to do the job you are asked to do,” Ethredge said.
“The teacher shortage in Pueblo is actually reflective of not just a Colorado trend, it’s reflective of a national trend,” D60 Human Resources Executive Director Paula Chostner said.
The amount of vacancies fluctuates between districts.
District 11 in Colorado Springs has more than 28,000 students. It has more than 15 teaching vacancies and 34 support staff vacancies like kitchen managers and bus mechanics.
Academy District 20 has more than 25,000 students with no teacher openings but has 60 support staff openings like bus drivers, crossing guards and paraprofessionals. Pueblo County District 70 has more than 9,000 students, also with no teaching vacancies and 13 support staff vacancies like custodians and office aides.
D60 said it doesn’t want to hire the first person it sees.
“We have a take a good hard look at candidate’s preparation and their experience. The interview process is one we take very sincerely here. We are consumers of our product too and we owe it our community and children to do the best we can to provide the best instruction.
If every teaching position isn’t filled, D60 said it can bring in retired teachers, have long-term substitutes or have an instructional coach be a teacher.
