Cincinnati Public Schools works to fill shortages before school year starts

Many local teachers and students will be back in the classroom in about two weeks.

Cincinnati Public School continues to try and recruit new teachers and staff members, including during their "Walk-in Wednesday" from 2-5 p.m. on July 31. The recruitment event will be open to potential substitutes and other staff positions, with the possibility of being hired on the spot, according to the district's website.

This event isn't the only effort by CPS to fill gaps in their staff, the district held another job fair back in June. At that time, CPS said they had more than 100 open teaching positions to fill.

The work from CPS is a part of a solution to a larger problem. According to a study published in October 2023 by the National Center for Education Statistics, 86% of K-12 schools in the U.S. reported issues with hiring new teachers ahead of the 2023-2024 school year. The study by the NCES reports that almost half of public schools view themselves as "understaffed."

The study by the NCES cites main issues for difficulty hiring teachers is a smaller number of candidates alongside "a lack of qualified applicants."

Jeff Wensing, vice president of the Ohio Education Association, attributed much of the recent issues with a teacher shortage to problems that stemmed from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, institutions struggle with a shrinking number of college students pursuing education and teachers staying in the career for a shorter period, according to Wensing.

“We are trying to focus on teacher recruitment and retention,” said Wensing.

Wensing stated that that a major solution will be inspiring the younger generation, and supporting diversity among teachers

"We need to encourage more educators of color to enter the profession because our students of color need to see those types of educators in front of them," he said.

Anna DeJarnette, associate professor of Mathematics Education and Director of the School of Education at the University of Cincinnati, stated there are several internal factors contributing to the shortage.

“It’s a lot related to class sizes, people leaving the workforce, people coming in and out of the workforce,” DeJarnette said.

However, DeJarnette told us that she has not seen a noticeable change to the amount students she's had pursuing education. Her students are given the opportunity to work face-to-face with local districts and have a connection with students in the area before they graduate.

“What we see most often are that students will pursue jobs either in those districts where they’ve been student teachers — sometimes they even have job offers before they finish student teaching,” DeJarnette said.

Wensing said that he believed that the biggest way that potential teachers will be inspired, will be by uplifting the "joy of the education profession and the joy of being in school."