A 2023-24 School Year Message to K-12 Leadership Teams
As K-12 leadership teams embark on the 2023-’24 school year, the lessons of the past resonate powerfully. The post-COVID era is one of transformation and resilience, where challenges are met with innovation, compassion, and a steadfast commitment to educational excellence.
Across the country, school districts are seeing a sweeping decline in teachers, staff, and even bus drivers. As district leadership teams wrestle with current challenges, Ed Tech consultants have an opportunity to play a role in addressing these challenges and taking our public school systems to the next level.
Funding is Not Forever
In a recent special report, EdWeek Market Brief examines where “districts are likely to increase or cut spending in fiscal 2023-24 across an array of areas that include core and supplemental curriculum, social-emotional learning, devices, assessment, data platforms, internet connectivity, and more.” In a post-COVID era, funding resources are coming to an end for special programming and curriculum meant to give students a boost following the stall in learning due to the pandemic.
While we are now in August, most districts begin getting serious about their annual budget plans in mid-July prior to welcoming students back for the academic year. NOW is the time of year for everything Back to School. This season includes everything from welcoming students and their families back to a more structured pace, new wardrobe expenses, and the sprint to staff classrooms with enough teachers to ensure class continues.
The time is now. Education companies must lean into conversations with administrators while understanding the many complex challenges facing educators across the board. While many teachers have been away for the summer, administrators never really left. They have attended conferences, planning sessions, and they have made plans for rolling out new budgets that support finding talented educators and support staff to deliver the quality of education parents and guardians are expecting for their children.
Itemize Budget Priorities
The ability to source and retain talent is at or near the top of the list for every school district. It is advantageous to survey district administrators on what they regard as their biggest professional challenges, in everything from teacher recruitment to improving school climate to using technology effectively. While K-12 recruiters are doing an incredible job of sourcing talent, it’s the ability to find new sources that plagues districts the most.
This is why firms like Leap are developing new options for school districts.
“As we collaborate with school districts throughout the nation to address staffing vacancies, we gain firsthand insight into the challenges confronting our education system,” said Gary Kagan, Co-Founder of Leap. “Finding the right candidates means we’ve got to get creative and stay flexible, thinking outside the box to make things work.”
Adding more resources to the effort of finding qualified educators and staff is critical right now, especially when budgets are limited and COVID-era funding is coming to an end.
We All Have a Role to Play
We all have a role to play in ensuring that our children return to a safe, productive, and supportive classroom. Thank you, teachers, for all you are going to do this year on behalf of families. And welcome back, administrators! The work you are doing is extremely critical, and while so many are choosing to leave your ranks, we owe you a debt of gratitude as you continue to deliver on an increasingly difficult promise to keep.
From one founder to another,
Ted