'It became personal': An in-depth look at the teacher shortage in 2022 | Teachers' Lounge Podcast

On a new Teachers’ Lounge, Mark Klaisner! He’s the executive director at West 40, which is a service center for dozens of school districts in northern Illinois. He’s also the president of the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools

He helped craft the group’s annual teacher shortage report and, in today’s show, we’re going in-depth with Mark about the report and the state of the teacher shortage during the pandemic.

We talked a lot about the extraordinary lack of substitutes, the lack of prospective teachers joining the workforce, and some potential solutions!

If you’ve never listened before, our show is based on an idea -- we’ve all had teachers in our lives who shaped who we are. And we want to hear about the teachers who inspired you or deserve a spotlight in your community. Every educator we have on this podcast, whether teacher, coach, counselor or professor, is nominated by our listeners.

So, tell us about the person who comes to your mind. Shoot us an email and nominate an educator at teacherslounge@niu.edu and they could be on the podcast! And subscribe to our newsletter to keep up to speed on everything to do with the show.

Also, Teachers’ Lounge is now on the radio! The podcast won’t change one bit, but you can now catch the show as an hour-long radio program every month on WNIJ. We’ll have multiple guests, stories, and new segments to hear. Our next episode airs on Friday, February 25 at 11 a.m. on 89-5 FM and right here WNIJ.org. Tune in the last Friday of the month at the same time for future episodes.

SHOW NOTES

Educator(s) in this episode:

Dr. Mark Klaisner

Stories in this episode:

A few years ago, Illinois elementary schools had to test their water for lead. What happened if they found it?

Music: Our show's theme music is from the northern Illinois-based band "Kindoves" and their songs "Popn," "Origins" and "Quiche." You can find more of their music on their Soundcloud page. You can also listen to the episode of WNIJ's own Sessions from Studio A where they were featured.

Teachers! People who know teachers! People with stories about teachers! Send us an email and be part of the show! Also, send us your topic recommendations: teacherslounge@niu.edu