Dive Brief:

• According to a new report by the Commonwealth Institute, staff cuts from 2008 and on have led to a huge deficit in school staff.
• The Washington Post reports that “if hiring had kept pace with student enrollment through the recession,” then a total of 11,200 staff members, including 4,600 teachers, would be working in Virginia schools today.
• The report also points out that students in the state need that additional support more than ever: There’s been a 39% increase in economically disadvantaged students, a 33% increase in ELL learners, and a 73% increase in homeless students.  

Dive Insight:

In some Virginia districts, like the state’s second-largest in Prince William County, classrooms are packed to the state-mandated maximum number of students. The overall reduction in staff is also blamed for situations where “overwhelmed administrators are passing clerical work on to teachers,” the Washington Post reports. “Loudoun, the state’s third largest district, is ‘missing’ 832 teachers, the most out of any district in Northern Virginia.”

Another consequence is a lack of individualized attention for students and a reduction in written assignments, since teachers are too overloaded to grade them. One math teacher took it upon himself to renovate his classroom so that his more than 30 students would have more space.  

Across the U.S., education funding has been slashed by 20% over the last five years. In Virginia, pass rates on state tests have dropped, though no correlation has been made between student performance and the reported school staff deficit.