Northeast Ohio educators discuss how pandemic is impacting staffing shortages

On Feb 15, 2022

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – Last year, the United Way of Greater Cleveland kicked off a series of public community conversations.

Their conversations are back this year. In some of them, they discuss how the pandemic has impacted education and mental health.

“These issues affect not just a core city in an urban community. It also affects rural and suburban areas as well,” said Augie Napoli, United Way of Greater Cleveland’s president and CEO.

One of the recent conversations involved local education leaders speaking on the continued impact of the pandemic on children, teachers, and schools.

“What we saw is that the issues that we are facing in education during the pandemic are very similar regardless of age, location,” said Eric Gordon, the CEO and superintendent of Cleveland Metropolitan School District.

Educators have expressed that the pandemic has caused staffing shortage issues across school districts.

“Education is not separate from the great resignation that we’ve seen across the country, and so like everyone, we are short on personnel. Districts like mine are looking at for substitute teachers for bus drivers, security officers, food service workers,” said Gordon. “If a teacher has to cover for another teacher, then that means that they don’t have the preparation time for their classes that they would normally have.”

This is a list of the conversations they have left this year.

March 31: Limiting Critical Race Theory and the Effect on Education, Non-Profit Organizations and Governmental Systems
May 19: Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mental Health and Substance Use, Access to Care, and Treatment
Sept. 22: Voting Rights, Redistricting, Local and National Legislation, and Impact on Voter Turnout
Nov. 17: Public/Private Partnerships Working to Dismantle Racism in Cleveland

To join in on these community conversations you can go to www.unitedwaycleveland.org/events