America’s public schools are struggling with a wave of departures by COVID-fatigued teachers just weeks before the first day of class.
The Memphis-Shelby County Schools on Friday held interviews for retired teachers looking to return to the classroom under a new Tennessee law. The 6,000-teacher district has 200 vacancies less than three weeks before school begins.
In Maryland, Montgomery County Public Schools has 400 teaching vacancies. According to the school system, 1,070 teachers resigned or retired between Sept. 1 and July 7, a 38% increase from 775 during the same period in 2020-21. Only 494 teachers left in 2018-19 and 444 quit in 2019-20.