Providence mayoral candidates respond to teacher shortage

PROVIDENCE, R.I.(WLNE) — As Providence Public School District begins another school year, mayoral candidates say its teacher shortage is one of the major issues the city faces.

According to the district, 101 of the 1670 positions in the department are vacant. The district plans to have 98% of the classrooms fully staffed by 2026.

During a mayoral forum Monday, candidates Brett Smiley, Gonzalo Cuervo, and Nirva LaFortune addressed the growing concerns.

Smiley explained, “We need to say the course and actually finish one of these plans.”

“Between the pandemic and the state turnaround, I have heard from so many teachers that the joy has left the profession, or they just lost some of their energy to go and face the school year. The first and most important thing is to provide some continuity and stability for our teachers,” he continued.

Cuervo addressed the issues, saying, “If they don’t have a steady teacher or lesson plan in front of them, they are not going to learn. Part of that is rebuilding our school buildings. We have a crumbling infrastructure. Part of it is ensuring continuing curriculum and our administrative structures. Part of it is making people feel great about their city again.”

Finally, LaFortune explained that “not having the leadership, not having the skilled teacher to teach the subject matter, I am very worried. We need to be working right now to get teachers into the district.”

“We need to be setting clear guidelines and benchmarks so that we can ensure that were meeting the goals to attract and retain teachers,” she concluded.

Primary elections are set for Sept. 13.