Teacher Shortage Reaching Crisis Levels In South Carolina

CHARLOTTE, NC – South Carolina legislators took a step on Wednesday to try and fend off a looming teacher shortage. 

State lawmakers passed a resolution that would restore incremental pay raises for teachers, which had been paused during the pandemic.

“The burnout is real this year,” said Steve Nuzum,  a high school English teacher in Richland County. 

“I’ve had times this year where I’ve definitely felt like, you know, why am I doing this?” continued Nuzum. 

Nuzum has been teaching for 15 years and says the last 12 months have been the most challenging. 

He says they’re teaching both virtual and in-person and that classes are becoming more and more crowded. 

He’s not the only one feeling this way. 

SCforED, a teachers advocacy group surveyed 2000 of the state’s 60000 teachers. It found 39% of respondents do not plan to return to their positions in the fall. Pay was a driving factor.

“I do think it’s become a crisis at this point in time,” said Ryan Brown, the Chief Communications officer for the South Carolina Department of Education. 

He says teachers have been stretched thin during a difficult year. 

Brown says the pandemic has only exacerbated the retention issues. Despite adding 2500 teachers in the last year, there are still 500 vacancies state-wide. 

“It’s not one of those things where you do one thing, snap your fingers and it’s been addressed. It takes a lot of systemic change,” explained Brown.

While lawmakers moved to reinstate teacher pay increase schedules, which had been frozen during the pandemic; teachers like Nuzum say it’s not enough. 

“It’s been very frustrating. I don’t think that the state is really doing much at all in the way of retention,” said Nuzum.

He worries the state is running out of time and teachers. 

“We won’t have the staff to safely operate schools,” said Nuzum.