美国教育部周四在给全国学校的一封信中敦促各地区从联邦COVID救济援助中提供更多资金，以应对疫情引发的教师短缺。
由于大批教师因疫情的压力而筋疲力尽，离开岗位，学校面临着可怕的人员流失。教育部长米格尔·卡多纳(Miguel Cardona)表示，联邦资金可以用来雇佣更多的代课教师，并给予长期教师急需的休假，或者通过雇佣或留用奖金为教师提供更高的工资。
“让我们明确一点:【美国救援计划】提供了重要的资源来雇佣更多的教育工作者和学校员工，并提高薪酬来招聘和留住教育工作者和学校员工，”卡多纳在致教育工作者的信中写道，该信由美国广播公司新闻独家获得。
他说:“学区应该紧急采取行动，保持学校对面对面学习开放，并确保它们不会浪费这个进行关键投资的机会。
去年三月由乔·拜登总统签署成为法律的美国救援计划向学校提供了超过1220亿美元。
卡多纳列举了学校可以利用这笔钱改善教师、监护人、公共汽车司机、学校护士和其他教育工作者处境的各种方式，并列举了已经这样做的学校。
苏珊·沃尔什/美联社档案
教育部长米格尔·卡多纳在白宫的每日简报会上发言.
卡多纳写道:“教育工作者列举的去年离校就业的最常见原因是压力，其次是薪酬不足。
他写道:“许多学校领导正在通过提供招聘和留用奖金来提高工资，努力实现永久加薪，或者提供奖金，帮助教育工作者获得他们应得的薪酬，并让他们留在职业中，我们鼓励其他人继续努力提高薪酬。
卡多纳引用了加州学校提供高达6000美元签约奖金的报道，以及俄克拉荷马州、北卡罗来纳州和新泽西州为新教师提供的其他经济激励措施。
卡多纳写道:“现在，支持教育工作者的福祉对于留住我们目前的教育工作者和工作人员比以往任何时候都更加重要。
尽管如此，一些学校已经著名的短期加薪不足以解决员工短缺的问题。
一些校长发现，根本没有足够的训练有素的专业人员可供他们招聘，教师或辅导员获得认证也需要时间。其他人有找到联邦救济的临时加薪是不可持续的。
其他学校也有据报告的附近的地区已经能够用联邦援助资助的更高工资挖走教师，使得低收入地区的学校教师更少。
另一方面，强大的教师工会全国教育协会(National Education Association)大力支持使用联邦援助留住教师的政策，称这一政策在与其他解决方案相结合时，对教育支持专业人员(简称ESPs)非常有效。
NEA说:“特殊目的公司的领导已经发现增加工资和福利是首要策略。”说在其网站上的一篇帖子中。
该工会写道:“但也有帮助的是，为退休人员提供重返工作岗位的灵活性，同时仍能领取养老金，重新审视执照挑战，提供激励措施，创建跨州合作，让他们更容易在其他州和地方工作，并关注当前员工的福祉，以及如何改善他们的福祉，让他们留在岗位上。”。
《NEA日报》指出，22个州的娱乐体育节目主持人的平均工资在3万美元或以下，“这不是一个适宜居住的工资或有吸引力的职业建议。”
如果不解决教育工作者短缺的问题，学校将面临一天中所有方面的中断，从因公交司机减少导致的公交线路变长、班级人数增加或代课教师不符合分配给他们的科目，甚至学校关闭。
根据10月份的一份报告，由于人手短缺，爱达荷州、加利福尼亚州、科罗拉多州、伊利诺伊州、密苏里州、密歇根州、新墨西哥州、纽约州、田纳西州、佛蒙特州和西弗吉尼亚州等11个州的学校不得不暂时关闭报告在艾德周。
就卡多纳而言，他承认短期解决方案只是开始，但呼吁学校利用现有资源。
卡多纳写道:“(教育部)强烈鼓励你利用ARP下的资金来应对疫情会议带来的紧急需求，同时开始计划所需的投资，以确保每个学生都能接触到他们所需的合格教育工作者和工作人员。
Education secretary urges schools use federal funding to combat teacher shortages
The Department of Education on Thursday urged districts to combat pandemic-fueled teacher shortages by offering them more money from the pot of federal COVID-relief aid, in a letter sent to schools nationwide.
Schools are facing dire staffing losses as droves of teachers leave their posts, exhausted by the stresses of the pandemic. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said federal money could be used to hire more substitute teachers and give permanent teachers much-needed time-off, or to offer teachers better salaries through hiring or retention bonuses.
"Let us be clear: [The American Rescue Plan] provides vital resources to hire additional educators and school staff and to improve compensation to recruit and retain educators and school staff," Cardona wrote in the letter to educators, obtained exclusively by ABC News.
"School districts should act with urgency to keep schools open for in-person learning and ensure they do not waste this opportunity to make critical investments," he said.
The American Rescue Plan, signed into law last March by President Joe Biden, provided over $122 billion to schools.
Cardona listed various ways schools could use this pot of money to improve the situation for teachers, custodians, bus drivers, school nurses and other educators, and cited schools that have already done so.
"The most common reason educators have cited for leaving school employment in the last year is stress, followed by insufficient pay," Cardona wrote.
"Many school leaders are increasing wages by offering hiring and retention bonuses, working towards permanent salary increases, or providing premium pay that help educators receive the compensation they deserve and keep them in the profession, and we encourage others to continue to work towards increasing compensation," he wrote.
Cardona cited reports of schools offering signing bonuses of up to $6,000 in California, and other financial incentives offered to new teachers in Oklahoma, North Carolina and New Jersey.
"Now, more than ever, supporting educator well-being is critical for retaining our current educators and staff," Cardona wrote.
Still, some schools havenotedthat short-term pay increases aren’t enough to solve their staff shortages.
Some principals have found that there are simply not enough trained professionals in the pipeline for them to recruit, and it takes time for teachers or counselors to get certified. Others havefoundthat the temporary pay increases from federal relief are unsustainable.
And other schools havereportedthat nearby districts have been able to poach teachers with higher salaries funded by federal aid, leaving schools in lower-income areas with less teachers.
On the other hand, the National Education Association, a powerful teachers' union, has thrown its weight behind the policy of using federal aid to retain teachers, saying it’s been effective with educational support professionals, or ESPs, when paired with other solutions.
"ESP leaders have found that increasing pay and benefits is the top strategy," the NEAsaidin a post on its website.
"But what also helps is providing flexibility for retirees to return to work while still receiving pension payments, revisiting licensure challenges, providing incentives, creating cross-state collaborations to make it easier to work in other states and localities, and looking at the well-being of current staff and ways to improve it to keep them on board," the union wrote.
The NEA noted that the average salary of ESPs in 22 states is $30,000 or below, "which is not a livable wage or an attractive career proposition."
Without addressing the educator shortages, schools are facing interruptions in all facets of the school day, from longer bus routes due to less bus drivers, larger class sizes or substitute teachers who aren’t qualified for the subjects they’re assigned to, and even school closures.
Schools in 11 states — Idaho, California, Colorado, Illinois, Missouri, Michigan, New Mexico, New York, Tennessee, Vermont, and West Virginia — have had to close temporarily because of staffing shortages, according to an Octoberreportin Ed Week.
For his part, Cardona acknowledged that the short-term solutions were just the beginning, but called on schools to take advantage of what was available.
"[The Department of Education] strongly encourages you to use funding under ARP to respond to the urgent needs resulting from the pandemic while beginning to plan for the investments needed to ensure that every student has access to the qualified educators and staff they need," Cardona wrote.
