Why Schools Need Board Certified Staffing Buffers
Successfully Growing Your Own: Considering Certified Staffing Buffers During an Educator Shortage
Educator shortages continue to present a major challenge in public education across the country. Take, for example, my home state of Illinois. While the overall number of unfilled positions has decreased slightly from 2024 to 2025, staffing shortages of some kind were reported in over 50% of districts across the state. Furthermore, education leaders view the scarcity of teachers, school support personnel, paraprofessionals, and substitutes as critical challenges that hinder the effectiveness of educational systems.
In response, many states have begun revisiting and revising their licensure processes, with several adopting alternative pathways to certification. Despite these efforts, some districts still struggle to find qualified or licensed educators to fill vacancies. In such cases, the immediate solution often involves hiring substitute teachers. However, Illinois—like many states—is also experiencing a substitute teacher shortage, with a striking 91% of educational and district leaders citing this as a direct issue impacting their schools.
To address these gaps, many districts have increasingly relied on recently retired teachers. Yet, staffing and credentialing trends at the state level suggest that the demand for educators is unlikely to subside soon. A significant proportion of district leaders expect their staffing needs to grow in the coming school year (FY26):
64% anticipate increased need for teachers
66% for special education teachers
60% for school support personnel
62% for paraprofessionals
District administrators frequently cite limited applicant pools, declining numbers of highly qualified candidates, and concerns over salary or benefits as persistent challenges. Compounding this, national data reveals a steep decline in students pursuing education degrees, particularly in high-need fields such as special education.
Critical Shortages Exacerbate Staffing Shortages in Specialized Areas
The general teacher shortage is accompanied by a specific crisis in special education and service support personnel (Psychologists, SLPs, SSW, OT/PT, Special Education Para-educators, etc.). This has become a nationwide issue: 43 states, Puerto Rico, and the District of Columbia projected shortages of special education teachers for the 2024 school year (more than in any other certification area). In my home state alone, over 1200 special education teacher positions remain unfilled for FY25.
The scope of this potential crisis is widely acknowledged: 76% of district leaders rate it as a minor, serious, or very serious problem. Looking ahead, 66% anticipate that the demand for special education teachers will rise in the next few years. Yet, we find ourselves in a position where qualified candidates seem exceedingly scarce.
According to a 2022 survey of public schools, special education teaching vacancies were reported at double the rate of all other areas. These shortages have serious consequences, including fears that students may not receive appropriate services and potentially putting districts at risk of non-compliance. Additionally, high caseloads contribute to burnout, attrition, and even career mortality (i.e., teachers leaving the educational profession altogether to pursue a career in a completely different sector). Across the board, special education teachers are approximately 2.5 times more likely to leave the profession than their general education counterparts.
“Across the board, special education teachers are approximately 2.5 times more likely to leave the profession than their general education counterparts.”
Long-Term Solutions Take Time
Addressing these long-standing challenges requires comprehensive, long-term strategies focused on developing a robust educator pipeline and a continued focus. Many states have adopted alternative pathways for educator credentialing. Additionally, districts are further supported in strengthening recruitment through initiatives such as the development of grow-your-own programs (GYO) and state-sponsored educator pipelines, both of which are often undertaken in direct collaboration with colleges and universities.
However, these strategies are not a quick fix. They take time. While essential solutions, we know they are often slow to produce results and take time to cultivate. In the meantime, schools face immediate staffing crises, educators (who are frequently stretched beyond their limits), particularly, in critical shortage areas like special education require near-term solutions.
The Need for a Staffing Buffer—and Protecting Current Staff
When positions remain vacant, districts often resort to emergency measures, such as hiring substitutes to “fill a position,” combining classes, increasing class sizes, asking administrators to cover staff shortages, modifying services, not providing services due to a vacancy, or assigning existing staff to take on additional responsibilities. These short-term solutions may be necessary, but they often compromise the quality of instruction and services while placing significant stress on current employees. This additional stress can further contribute to premature staff departures.
Educators are deeply committed to their students and often go above and beyond. However, persistent overextension (mainly driven by a strong desire to support colleagues and students) can lead to burnout and emotional exhaustion, a condition often referred to as compassion fatigue. Administrators consistently report that increased workloads and unrealistic expectations contribute to staff exhaustion, which in turn worsens shortages. Often overlooked is the notable difference between a caseload and a workload.
Therefore, any solution implemented must consider this aspect and include safeguards to protect existing staff, thereby preventing further attrition. One very important and often overlooked approach to achieving this is for schools to consider building certified staffing buffers, which can take various formats. One approach is to examine the sheer FTE numbers related to an adjusted caseload/workload analysis as a means to identify areas in which FTE, while seemingly “sufficient” at face value, is actually inadequate. While this may adjust FTE, it would also inflate the number of vacancies at any given time. While long-term solutions can help with this, it is also important not to lose sight of those who work in the schools day in and day out. Those who show up daily, despite the limited resources and staffing, and in the face of exhaustion, continue to do amazing work. We must also consider solutions that do not stand on the backs of others by increasing the burden on current employees.
“However, persistent overextension (mainly driven by a strong desire to support colleagues and students) can lead to burnout and emotional exhaustion, a condition often referred to as compassion fatigue.”
Additional Buffers: Accelerating Capacity with Highly Qualified Consultants
While growing a sustainable pipeline of educators remains the long-term goal, this process can be significantly enhanced by strategically deploying highly qualified consultants, not as direct substitutes to supplant staff, but as vital supports for those stepping into hard-to-fill roles. We know that those who often do well, and that in looking at the educational profession as a true craft, there is simply no replacement for experience.
In many cases, schools are able to fill positions, but the individuals hired may be newer teachers, alternatively certified candidates, or staff transitioning from other roles, and as such, may not have had the time to develop a robust skill set required to succeed, especially in high-demand areas like special education. Without adequate support, these educators face a steep learning curve, which increases the risk of early burnout and attrition, thereby perpetuating the very cycle of staffing shortages districts are trying to solve.
Highly qualified consultants can help break this cycle by strengthening the effectiveness and retention of new hires through targeted support:
Modeling High-Impact Practices: Consultants can demonstrate evidence-based instructional and behavioral strategies in real-world settings, giving novice educators concrete, actionable examples to follow.
Serving as Coaches and Mentors: Acting as expert mentors, consultants provide individualized, ongoing coaching—an essential retention tool—helping new staff build competence and confidence in their roles without adding pressure to already overburdened colleagues.
Providing Professional Development: Consultants can lead focused training sessions and job-embedded learning that builds the specific knowledge and skills new educators need most, tailored to the real challenges they’re encountering in their settings.
Offering Ongoing Guidance: Through regular consultation and availability, consultants can serve as a reliable resource for emerging educators and administrators, helping them troubleshoot issues, navigate complex cases, and grow more effectively into their roles.
This kind of structured and focused support is especially critical in high-need areas, such as special education, where the demands are complex, the compliance requirements high, and the risk of burnout significant. By guiding and mentoring new staff through these challenges, consultants help ensure that hiring a novice educator isn’t a stopgap but the beginning of a sustainable career. While districts often have an internal “mentoring program”, this often becomes one more thing put on the shoulders of an already full plate.
Primary Focus: Support the Pipeline While Investing in Your Staff
To address the educator shortage effectively, we must pursue a multi-faceted strategy. Long-term efforts such as GYO (Grow Your Own) initiatives and alternative certification pathways are critical to building a stable, future-ready workforce. However, these strategies alone are not enough, especially when staff are already stretched thin and new hires are entering roles with limited preparation and previous experience. This is where certified staffing buffers come into play.
Certified staffing buffers aren’t just about increasing headcount. They’re about ensuring quality, sustainability, and support. One way districts can build this buffer is by integrating highly qualified consultants, not to fill permanent roles themselves, but to enhance the capacity of those who do. By mentoring, coaching, modeling high-leverage practices, and offering specialized professional development, these consultants provide critical on-the-ground support to new or transitioning staff. They help reduce the steep learning curve that can lead our novice educators to leave, thereby slowing the revolving door effect that exacerbates the current shortages.
“Certified staffing buffers aren’t just about increasing headcount. They’re about ensuring quality, sustainability, and support.”
When used intentionally, certified staffing buffers allow districts to fill vacancies without sacrificing support. They help prevent burnout among both new and veteran staff by offering targeted expertise and reducing the burden of onboarding and mentoring that would otherwise fall on already overwhelmed colleagues. It also helps to ameliorate the challenges that often exist between the realities of caseload & workload.
Investing in certified staffing buffers now, both by building internal systems, focusing on pathways to growth, and strategically leveraging external support, can create a more resilient workforce. This multi-pronged approach enables districts to protect their current educators, develop new talent with confidence, and ensure students are consistently supported by competent, well-prepared professionals. It’s not just about filling positions; it’s about setting people up to stay, grow, and succeed. We all know that when people feel supported and valued, they tend to do their very best work!
Sources:
National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance: IES Teacher Shortages: Addressing Teacher Shortages in Disadvantaged Schools: Lessons from Two Institute of Education Science Studies (2013)
U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Science, National Center for Educational Statistics, School Pulse Panel - School Staffing Shortages (2022)
NEA Teacher Shortages - National Report (2018)
Educator Shortage Report - Academic Year 2024-2025: Now Hiring - Working Conditions, Student Teachers, Leadership, Pathways, Substitutes, Reirement. Illinois State Board of Education (2025).
NEA - Solving Educator Shortages by Making Public Education an Attractive & Competitive Career Pathway (2022) (Solving Educator Shortages by Making Public Education an Attractive and Competitive Career Path | NEA)
NEA - Issues Report Providing Solutions to Mitigate the Educator Shortage Crisis (2022) NEA Issues Report Providing Solutions to Mitigate the Educator Shortage Crisis | NEA
