Johnson County is starting the school year with hundreds of positions unfilled, as districts in the region manage a record number of vacancies, especially in special education. Labor shortages continue to plague school districts in Kansas and Missouri this year, as educators leave their jobs at higher rates and fewer applicants seek to replace them. Last month, Shane Carter, director of teacher licensure with the Kansas education department, said schools in the state reported 1,634 teacher vacancies this spring. That’s up from 1,381 the spring before, when officials warned it was the state’s worst-ever shortage. The highest number continues to be in special education, with 377 teaching jobs unfilled across the state this spring. Even in Johnson County school districts, which tend to pay teachers higher salaries than in urban and more rural areas, the special ed teacher shortage is acute. The Olathe district has eight vacant special education teacher jobs this month, while Blue Valley has 13 being filled by substitutes.
Source: Joco 913 News
