Teacher shortage in Castro Valley affects staff and students

CVHS started school this year in need of five teachers, and finally filled its final positions near the end of first quarter.

“Many of us were interviewing candidates over the summer. And the problem is is that we have many fewer qualified candidates,” said Dr. Deborah Yager, science teacher. Yager also explained that the problem of our teacher shortage comes from the fact that fewer people are interested in becoming teachers.

In 2008, there were 45,000 people enrolled in teaching programs in California, but this number decreased by over half in 2013, when there were only 20,000 people enrolled in teaching preparation programs. With low salaries and long hours that delve into extra time spent at home grading students’ work, teachers are undeniably not given the credit they should receive for their dedication to students’ education.

“We reached this crisis point and it wasn’t just here at Castro Valley, but it was around the Bay Area,” said Yager. She explained that part of the reason why CVHS had an incredibly difficult time hiring teachers was because the school was fighting for the same candidates that other schools around the Bay Area wanted to hire.

Education is an integral part of students’ lives, and though students of CVHS are being taught by long term substitute teachers, they are being deprived of their education due to teacher shortages. “It was really frustrating feeling like we weren’t getting any work done, and seeing all the other classes progressing,” explained freshman Molly Samboy, a student who had a long-term biology substitute.

However, even with teacher shortages, many teachers have stepped up to take on extra classes in order to help lower the amount of classes without a teacher. Science teacher Ashley Green has taken on an extra AP Biology class in addition to her two morning AP Biology classes. Yager has also taken on a new chemistry class in order to help our teacher shortage problem.