I was blissfully unaware of the complex challenges facing public schools - until I found myself working closely with them. While I’ve been able to lend expertise to the recruiting and retention practices of public schools, I’ve also been humbled at how much happens behind the scenes that are impacting all facets of the public education system. Here are the top five learnings I’ve encountered with public school system administrations;
The job is getting harder - There are more IEPs, behavior issues, and English Language Learners (ELL) than ever before.
Funding is disappearing - Supporting these challenges requires funding, which has been tied to pandemic area funds that are running out or short term grants with uncertainty on whether they’ll continue receiving funds. This has led to districts asking their citizens for tax increases, significantly cutting services (gym, music or art) or going into financial distress…or sometimes, all of the above.
Ed-tech is a joke - The ed-tech industry has reaped billions of dollars from our public school districts without demonstrating adequate returns in efficiency gains or student success indicators. Ed-tech spending is at $39.5 billion - up 36% versus 10 years ago. Reading scores have seen a 7 point drop and math scores have seen a 14 point drop over the same time period. We were on this trendline before COVID.
Relationships are troubled - Negotiations have gotten more contentious in recent years leading to potentially unsustainable contracts.
The best people in the world are working in public education - With all the headwinds, why would anyone want to continue working in public schools? The pay is low and the difficulty is high. The perception of public education has fallen and the citizen oversight structures are more aggressive. But yet people show up, in person, day after day and deal with these challenges.