Teacher Vacancies in Illinois Disproportionately Impact Students of C…

Despite many sounding the alarm on a pandemic-related teacher exodus, the number of new Illinois public school teachers and principals is actually increasing, according to a new watchdog report.

But that’s not the case across all teaching positions.

Advance Illinois breaks down in its latest report, “The State of Our Educator Pipeline 2023,” how school districts across the state are struggling to fill special education and bilingual teaching positions. The organization said that’s having a disproportionate impact on Black and Latino students.

“Most tragically, students of color and students from low-income households are dramatically more likely to be in districts with high vacancy levels, more than twice the vacancy rates than the rest of state,” said Robin Steans, president of Advance Illinois.

Arkeshia Washington is a special education teacher at Bolingbrook High School, and she said it’s traditionally been challenging for districts to hire special education…