How Will the Pandemic Affect the English Learner Teacher Shortage?

While extended school closures have upended education for all students, they have weighed even more heavily on English learners (ELs). Many of these learners lack access to electronic devices and the internet and some are taking up jobs to help their families during the economic downturn. Under these circumstances, ELs could fall behind on two fronts: English language development and subject-area mastery. Will these students have the teachers they need to make up for lost ground?

At this rate, it is unlikely. ELs are a fast-growing group and the supply of teachers who are preparing to teach English as a second language (ESL) or bilingual education has long lagged behind the growing demand. The number of ELs has risen to roughly 5 million, up 28 percent nationally from 2000 to 2016. During this time, 43 states saw the number of ELs rise, with increases of over 400 percent in Delaware, Kentucky, Mississippi, and South Carolina. This school year, the U.S. Department of Education reported that at least 35 states have a shortage of teachers who are prepared to work with the growing number of ELs.

Now, the coronavirus pandemic threatens the progress that has been made in tackling these shortages. An analysis from the Center for American Progress revealed a 30 percent increase in teacher preparation program completers who earned an ESL or bilingual credential between 2012 to 2018. Yet this growth happened alongside financial incentives and investments in Grow Your Own programs, which have increased interest in and access to the profession for teachers of ELs. If these types of investments are scaled back as a result of shrinking state and local budgets, it is reasonable to expect the numbers of teachers earning ESL or bilingual credentials to stall.

Then there is the matter of layoffs. Thousands of educators have already been laid off or received pink slips, with the majority of early layoffs affecting support staff such as bilingual paraeducators. Early forecasts show the teaching workforce shrinking by as much as 8.5 percent as a result of a 15 percent cut to education funding, with low-income schools (where ELs are often concentrated) and states enrolling the highest numbers of ELs likely to lose the most teaching positions. Even though some states safeguard positions in high-need content areas such as bilingual and ESL from “last in, first-out” layoff policies, a wave of reporting indicates that many teachers who have not lost their jobs are quitting, retiring, or taking extended leave over health concerns.

The extent to which pandemic-related layoffs and departures will exacerbate existing EL teacher shortages remains uncertain. Still, any reduction in the pool of EL teachers would worsen an already bad situation. Even prior to the pandemic, many schools and districts struggled to meet their legal obligations to ELs, including providing them with teachers who have the proper certification, relevant training, and experience to meet their needs. Consider: the Texas Education Agency grants waivers that allow school districts to go without offering bilingual or ESL programs for ELs if they are unable to find appropriately certified teachers. With fewer teachers and staff, it will be all the more difficult for schools to meet their legal obligations to ELs and remedy new learning deficits that result from months of school closures. It will be more challenging to reduce class sizes, stagger school schedules, and keep students in fixed cohorts in order to open safely. Worse still, a reduction in the number of EL teachers during this critical time could spur perpetual shortages, as increased workloads and depleting working conditions cause bilingual talent to leave the profession or forgo teaching careers.

The federal government has the biggest role to play in preventing this crisis. Earlier this year, New America along with more than 40 organizations called for $175 billion in supplemental funding for education. These funds could help balance budgets, which would safeguard teacher pipeline programs, teachers' jobs, and make schools safe enough for teachers and students to return to. To have the greatest impact, Congress could require that states prioritize high-need districts for funding. Advocacy leaders have also called for increasing funding for Title III (the part of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act that authorizes funding for EL programs), from $787 to $985 million to account for the fallout of coronavirus. Such investments work: During the Great Recession, a federal investment of almost $100 billion helped save 275,000 education jobs.

Looking to the future, Congress must also find creative ways to subsidize the preparation of EL teachers. One possible way is to create a grant program under Title III of the Higher Education Act (HEA) to train EL teachers. Last year, a group of Democratic attempted to do so through the Reaching English Language Learners Act, which aimed to disperse grants to colleges and universities to support the development of the next generation of EL educators. Another defunct but promising proposal aimed to forgive EL teachers’ student loans. The Supporting Providers of English Language Learning Act would have made teachers of ELs eligible for $17,500 in student loan forgiveness.

Unfortunately, recent relief package proposals in Congress have fallen short of what is needed and it is unclear when the matter will be taken up again. What is clear is that ELs are among the students that can least afford to lose learning. Without an influx in federal funds, these students will simply not have the educators they need to get back on track.

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