Statewide teacher shortage concerns continue as school year begins for many metro Atlanta students

ATLANTA — As many metro Atlanta students head back to school this week, state education officials say there is still concern over a teacher shortage.

Lisa Morgan, the President of the Georgia Association of Educators, told WSB Tonight’s Veronica Griffin that the teacher shortage will impact students in a big way.

“There’s definitely is a teachers shortage; it is a growing problem,” Morgan said. “We are seeing districts having job fairs right up preplanning and the beginning of the school year.”

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While educators continue to prepare to address concerns ahead of the school year, students are getting prepared to return to the classroom with the help of a back-to-school bash and supplies giveaway at the B.A.N.K. Foundation.

Students were gifted backpacks, school uniforms and other school supplies to help ease the financial burden on parents.

Local businessman and founder of the B.A.N.K Foundation, William Platt, said he wants to help give kids a good start to the school year.

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“I want to continue to bless the neighborhood kids, just giving them hope,” Platt said. “To let them know they can use me as a role model to know that I came from this walk of life to where I’m at now.”

While students were given supplies to make their transition from summer to the classroom easier, Morgan added that if the teacher shortages don’t turn around soon, ultimately, they are the ones who will feel the effects.

“The major way it’s going to affect classrooms is the fact that our class sizes are going to continue to increase,” she said.

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Channel 2 Action News reported last week about 400 teacher openings in DeKalb County. Some coaches, special education staff, and other certified employees will cover the gaps.

A coach and a special education teacher off-camera told Channel 2′s Tyisha Fernandes that they’re both feeling a bit anxious because they don’t know what they’ll be teaching and they don’t want to walk into these classrooms unprepared. A district spokesperson assured Fernandes that temporary teachers have nothing to worry about because they will have plenty of support.

Channel 2 reached out to other metro school districts about their teacher vacancies. Gwinnett County Schools say the district has hired 2,199 teachers and has 195 vacancies as of Wednesday. The district says it is on track to have all of them filled by the first day of school.

Henry County Schools is about 95% staffed with 100 certified teacher vacancies. A spokesperson says the district is still processing recommendations ahead of the first day of school.

Cobb County Schools District has 16 open certified teaching positions, according to its jobs website. Fulton County Schools says it has 94 vacancies. Atlanta Public Schools told Channel 2 it is on course to begin the school year with 0 or single-digit vacancies.

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