D
anyal is setting up the stu- dent-made instruments from last week in preparation for his first class: kindergarten music. As he lays down the
last instrument, the PA system crackles. “Mr. Sehr, please call the office. Mr. Sehr, please call the office.” Danyal sighs and rolls his eyes. He already knows what this conversa- tion will be about. Before he picks up the classroom phone, his colleague Tracy storms into his classroom. “You are not being col- lapsed again!” she declares. “Tis is the third prep this week that I will be missing!” Tracy continues to glare as Danyal re-
turns the phone to the receiver and says, “I’m in Moira’s Grade 2 class today.” Exasperated, Tracy leaves the classroom. Danyal quickly puts the instruments away, grabs a few things and heads to the office to pick up the atten- dance for Moira’s class. You can tell by his walk that he feels unappreciated and that music in schools is expendable. Danyal is not alone. Teachers, occasional
teachers, families and the broader educa- tion sector are raising the alarm about the failure to replace teacher absences, also known as “fail-to-fills.” Nor is this a unique problem to Ontario. Headlines around the world indicate that there are an insufficient number of teachers. Tis problem is so per- vasive that the United Nations (UN) issued a global alert regarding the teacher shortage in February 2024. In addition to the global alert, the UN
released a report, Transforming the Teaching Profession: Recommendations and Summary of Deliberations of the United Nations Secre- tary General’s High-Level Panel on the Teach- ing Profession. It provides a comprehensive set of recommendations aimed at transforming the teaching profession. Te report estimates there will be a need for 44 million more pri- mary and secondary teachers worldwide by 2030 to meet educational demands. Closer to home, results from People for
Education’s annual Ontario school survey released in May 2024 highlighted that staff shortages are a significant provincial issue. Based on responses from 1,030 principals representing all regions of the province and 70 of Ontario’s 72 school boards, 24 per cent of elementary schools reported unfilled teacher absences daily, 46 per cent weekly, and 25 per cent monthly. Significantly, only four per cent reported never experiencing unfilled teacher absences. Although a variety of Ontario education stakeholders, including the Education Minis-
try, faculties of education, school boards and unions, have also provided glimpses of data across the sector, we still do not have a clear picture of what is happening and why. What is clear is that the fail-to-fill issue is complex and will require a concerted effort to resolve, as all the reasons for this global phenomenon are not fully understood.
WHAT IS THE IMPACT ON EDUCATORS WHEN OUR SCHOOLS HAVE FAIL-TO-FILL ISSUES?
As in the scenario with Moira’s Grade 2 class, when a qualified occasional teacher is not available through the board’s occasional teacher dispatch system, there are several consequences:
• Members, like Tracy, lose preparation time. Although collective agreements provide a way for members to have the preparation time restored, by the time it is received, it’s generally too late to con- duct the work originally planned.
• Members, like Danyal, lose continuity and momentum within their programs, and subjects like music, special educa- tion, or health and physical education appear to be expendable. Students lose precious learning.
• All educators experience increased work- load, stress and burnout when schools are short staffed.
• Vulnerable students lose their supports when special education or English lan- guage learner teachers are pulled to cover classes for absent colleagues. Some mem- bers report that self-contained classes are collapsed for the day and/or parents are asked to keep their children home. Tese requests to keep students home are oſten undocumented and have become an issue for advocacy groups when demand- ing more funding and supports from the government.
• Unqualified or uncertified instructors may be hired to “teach” students. Tis leads to a loss of program continuity, loss of learning for students, and a de-valuing of teachers and occasional teachers.
• With little to no release time provided for it, professional learning - which is essential to supporting effective instruc- tion and assessment - is now considered a luxury.
Te overall consequences of fail-to-fills
are ongoing and result in a systemic erosion of the profession. And the situation is getting
ELEMENTARY TEACHERS’ FEDERATION OF ONTARIO 9 “
PEOPLE FOR EDUCA- TION’S ANNUAL ONTARIO SCHOOL SURVEY RELEASED IN MAY 2024 HIGHLIGHTED THAT STAFF SHORTAGES ARE A SIGNIFICANT PRO- VINCIAL ISSUE. BASED ON RESPONSES FROM 1,030 PRINCIPALS REPRESENTING ALL REGIONS OF THE PROV- INCE AND 70 OF ONTARIO’S 72 SCHOOL BOARDS, 24 PER CENT OF ELEMEN- TARY SCHOOLS REPORTED UNFILLED TEACHER AB- SENCES DAILY, 46 PER CENT WEEKLY, AND 25 PER CENT MONTHLY. SIGNIFICANTLY, ONLY FOUR PER CENT REPORTED NEVER EXPERI- ENCING UNFILLED TEACHER ABSENCES.
”
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