WOOD COUNTY, Ohio — Teachers have felt some of the biggest impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. And now, those still in the field are taking on new challenges as a nationwide shortage of teachers puts even more work on their full plates.
Perrysburg Schools Superintendent Tom Hosler said the district only needs one teacher, so they've been lucky with the quality of candidates they've received. But that isn't the case for every district.
The Dean of BGSU's College of Education, Dr. Dawn Shinew, said superintendents all across northwest Ohio are seeing a major decrease in applications coming through.
Hosler said while the Perrysburg Schools are fortunate enough to have quality candidates for open positions, it took adapting and changing to get there.
"Where do we advertise? How do we advertise? The conversations that we have with candidates - some of those things have changed," explained Hosler. "We've had to adapt to the changing climate when it comes to recruiting and attracting candidates."
These adaptations involve things like offering incentives to certain applicants. But Hosler said it boils down to what the state offers.
"At some point, I do think, from the legislature, the Ohio Department of Education, there needs to be a conversation about the licensure and allowing different pathways so that universities have more flexibility with getting people in the right seats," he said.
And taking a step in that direction, BGSU created the Alternative Resident Educator Program. It allows those who already have a four-year degree in any area of study to get a teaching certificate in under a year.
Some superintendents even think reversing the shortage could be done right from home.
Hosler said there needs to be more positive conversations about education.
He said if the narrative surrounding education changes and parents tell their kids the meaningful impact teachers made on them, they might be more inclined to go into education in the future.
"We need to start talking about education with that same kind of urgency that we've been dealing with with other professions," he said.
Shinew said the future of education needs to be on everyone's mind.
"This isn't just my concern as a dean of college education or a superintendent's concern. This is a societal concern. We need good teachers." she said.
WTOL 11 reached out to other school districts, like Toledo and Maumee, to get a feel for how staffing is at all different sizes of public schools. As of the writing of this story, we have not heard back.