The teacher workforce has been beset by challenges for decades, with low pay, stressful work conditions, and lack of preparation and support taking a gradual toll on the numbers of talented next-gen leaders—especially leaders of color—pursuing careers in education. The pandemic has turned a slow-moving problem into a crisis, as schools scramble to staff classrooms and schools of education continue to see declines in enrollment.
We need a national strategy that counters the inequities embedded in our local-tax-funded educational system, inequities that led to the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately harming students of color and those from low-income communities. While it will require effort on multiple fronts, a focus on teachers may be the most robust lever we have for creating student-centric classrooms.
READ MORE from Breakthrough CEO, Elissa Vanaver
As published in EdSurge, April 4, 2022
