Educators and school staff do so much to serve their students and strengthen their school communities. Amid the pandemic, educators have faced new and difficult challenges. We know that many districts have strong needs to recruit qualified educators and school personnel and to retain their current staff. We want every school and classroom led by a qualified educator with the supports that they and their students need to succeed. Here are some steps you can take to recruit, prepare, develop, support, and retain a qualified workforce:

• Invest in a strong and diverse teacher pipeline, including by increasing access to affordable, comprehensive, evidence-based preparation programs, such as teacher residencies, Grow Your Own programs, including those that begin in high school, and apprenticeship programs;
• Support teachers in earning initial or additional certification in high-demand areas such as special education and bilingual education or advanced certifications to better meet the needs of their students;
• Help teachers pay off their student loans, including through loan forgiveness and service scholarship programs;
• Support teachers by providing them and their students with the resources they need to succeed, including mentoring for early career teachers, high-quality instructional materials, and providing students with access to school counselors, social workers, nurses, mental health professionals, and other specialists;
• Create opportunities for teacher advancement and leadership, including participating in distributive leadership models, and serving as instructional coaches and mentors.

Below are resources from the Department of Education and across the federal government to support these efforts:

Resources for Supporting Educator and Staff Stability and Well-Being

• ED COVID-19 Handbook, Volume 2: Roadmap to Reopening Safely and Meeting All Students’ Needs [PDF, 5.3MB]
• Using ARP funds and other Federal Supports to Address State and Local Teacher and School Staff Labor Shortages Webinar
• Using American Rescue Plan Funds and Other Federal Supports to Address Staff Shortages [PDF, 545KB]
• Fact Sheet: The U.S. Department of Education Announces Partnerships Across States, School Districts, and Colleges of Education to Meet Secretary Cardona’s Call to Action to Address the Teacher Shortage
• “Strengthening Partnerships Between States, School Districts, and Higher Education to Increase the Number of Teacher Candidates Prepared to Enter the Classroom and Provide Immediate Support to Schools” Roundtable Disclaimer
• Fact Sheet: Sustaining Investments in Teachers Beyond the American Rescue Plan [PDF, 314KB]
• Lessons From the Field Webinar