As this school year comes to a close and eyes turn towards the next, here is my top five biggest challenges facing our educational systems for this next year:
Fiscal Cliff: Systems will face the end of COVID relief funds at the same time our country experiences/approaches a recession. Budgets will be leaner than perhaps ever before proportionally. Many do not have a cache of rainy day funds to ride out this time. The impact will be significant and the evidence of it will be seen for years.
Teacher Crisis: Teachers are exiting the system and seeking new careers at an unprecedented rate and there is no pipeline to fill the vacancies. Leaders will be faced with difficult decisions of whether to cut programs, double schedule the brave that are present--and risk their burn out and exit, use uncertified individuals for coverage, or have increasingly larger class sizes. All of these have influence over the education quality received by students--oftentimes not for the best.
Relevance of Education: Many are questioning the value of education and not just postsecondary. More and more families are exiting public systems, leveraging ESA/voucher money, or homeschooling at the secondary level. Enrollment rates for postsecondary continue to decline along with completion rates. Never before has our country seen such. Families and students are questioning the why of education and so far many are struggling to find an answer.
Polarization of Education: Politics and cultural wars have entered the education scene in board rooms, the state house, and the school building. The discourse has jammed up educational progress, derailed the focus on purpose of education, and left students out of the equation in favor of personal agendas. This war does not seem to have an end in sight.
Learning Loss and Achievement Gaps: Our country is still attempting to recover from the losses as a result of COVID. And, not only that, the gaps in achievement within our own country as well as in comparison to other countries are widening. We were once seen as the exemplar for education. Not any more. The quality and outcomes of our educational system have digressed and we are no longer at the top.
Agree these are the biggest challenges? What else would you add? More importantly, how we respond as a nation and as leaders is crucial in defining what our future holds in education. Our country is on a precipice and our next steps will determine our path towards failure or success. What should our next steps be?
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