Teacher shortage: ‘More needs to be done,’ NY gov. says

(NewsNation) — As another school year gets underway, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said it is her job to make sure schools and teachers have the resources they need to succeed.

“My job is to make sure they have the resources,” Hochul said during in an interview with NewsNation affiliate WPIX.

Hochul explained that her administration had a record budget of $32.8 billion to go toward education this year. But says that amount of money can’t fix, or highlight, the underlining stressors impacting state educators.

Many teachers left the workforce during the COVID-19 pandemic, and teacher shortages are still an issue heading into the new school year this fall.

In New York, the influx of migrant children arriving from Texas has begun to impact city school enrollment. On Wednesday, five additional buses carrying migrants arrived in New York City.

“The stress that our teachers and our students have been under, making sure that there are mental health support systems in the schools for the kids who really were just hammered by this disruption in their lives. But also, the loss of teachers,” Hochul explained. “It just was too much for too many, especially those who are taking care of their own kids. So it’s going to be a challenge.”

New data revealed that teachers in 2021 earned 23.5% less than comparable college graduates, and its analysis of the data concluded that teacher pay has remained relatively flat since 1996.

Hochul said that there are other cities in worse situations in terms of numbers, but she has confidence that New York City will work hard with the teachers to make sure they have whatever they need to go back to school safely. As well as finding effective ways to incentivize teachers back to the classroom in an era of record inflation.

“We are working very hard on that as well, and making the licensing easier, I would like to do,” she explained, “and also bring in teachers from other states, and not have to go through such a hassle to become a teacher in New York.”

“More need to be done,” Hochul said.