Biden administration partners with job firms to address teacher shortage

The Biden administration on Wednesday announced a handful of actions aimed at addressing the teacher shortage in the United States, including by partnering with job search firms to make it easier to fill openings in the education field.  

The White House announced that ZipRecruiter would launch a new web portal to showcase K-12 school jobs; Handshake is planning an October virtual event to encourage current college students to explore education jobs; and Indeed would host virtual hiring fairs specifically for educators.  

Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh also penned a letter to state and local officials encouraging them to pay competitive wages for education positions and to establish teacher training programs to recruit and retain educators.  

Biden administration officials are likely to highlight the new actions during an event Tuesday hosted by first lady Jill Biden, who is herself a teacher, that will bring together Cardona, Walsh, officials from the White House Domestic Policy Council and other stakeholders to discuss how to help schools fill vacancies.  

The COVID-19 pandemic — which forced many schools to adopt remote learning for months — has contributed to a critical shortage of teachers in some areas of the U.S. It’s caused some districts to shorten the school week as education leaders struggle to fill vacancies.  

The Biden administration has limited tools with which to address these challenges at the local level.  

Administration officials have encouraged education leaders to use unused funds from the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package President Biden signed into law last year to bolster staff pay.  

“The President has been clear from day one that to address these long-standing staffing challenges facing our schools, exacerbated by the pandemic, teachers, paraprofessionals, and other school staff need to be paid competitively, and treated with the respect and dignity that they deserve, including through improved working conditions for staff and learning conditions for students,” a White House fact sheet released Wednesday states.  

The White House also said Wednesday that teachers unions like the American Federation of Teachers and other organizations had agreed to explore ways to expand teacher apprenticeship programs.