Education

Pandemic-era needs for substitute teachers are changing how schools fill the job – and who they hire to fill it.

In many districts, the kids are due back in August, and lots of school leaders are still trying to figure out who’s going to be in front of them.

Some districts are offering more pay and housing stipends. Others are cutting back, putting a bigger load on remaining teachers.

There are a lot of benefits to making school lunch and other social benefits more universal. But, yes, it’s expensive to do.

With many teachers exhausted by the demands of the pandemic, it’s harder for school districts to recruit them for summer work.

Teachers demanding higher pay is one example of new costs. That could make it harder for schools to borrow money, a new report says.

Because gun control measures haven’t gone far, schools are investing in security, says The 74’s Mark Keierleber. Those measures come with significant costs.

What once was a necessity is now an expanding educational frontier.

Student debt cancellation would be an essential move toward affordable higher education, says Felicia Wong, president and CEO of the Roosevelt Institute.

Their salaries, most negotiated for years at a time, haven’t kept up with sharply rising prices.