By Noel Fernandez, age 10
For a child to learn, they have to be able to get to school, and there has to be someone to educate them. Unfortunately, there are bus driver shortages and teacher shortages in many parts of the United States. These shortages take a toll on kids’ education in school.
Over 90% of district leaders and transportation workers surveyed across the country by HopSkipDrive said their district has a bus driver shortage that has affected bus routes. When a bus driver shortage occurs, many children have a hard time getting to school because nowadays train rides, cabs, and Ubers are expensive because of inflation. This can cause students to be late, or worse, absent.
The Annenberg Institute at Brown University estimates that there are 49,000 vacant teaching positions across the country. Teacher shortages cause students to miss out on the education that they need.
At Roberto Clemente Community Academy in Chicago, there have been a lot of absences for staff and teachers, which can mess up students’ learning. According to reporting by Chalkbeat, one student at Clemente, named Carolina Carchi, decided to teach a sophomore chemistry class herself, because the substitute who was put in place after their main teacher quit didn’t know chemistry. She was inspired to do this because of how hopeless her classmates were. The year prior, she taught her classmates algebra when their long-term substitute was unable to teach the subject.
