TAMPA, Fla. — Some people feel called to teaching.
People like Consuelo Blake, who’s a fourth-grade math and science teacher in Hillsborough County.
“When a child learns and is proud of themselves, that’s the best thing, the best feeling in the world for a teacher to see that,” said Blake.
WATCH Tampa Bay school districts battling teacher shortages but seeing improvements
She loves her job and feels purpose and fulfillment in her students that go beyond the lessons in the classroom.
“We are developing good human beings every single day. We have to be the role models,” said Blake.
However, teaching doesn’t come without its challenges—some that have caused a shortage of people who are willing to take on the job.
“As teachers leave the profession or they’re retiring, there’s just not enough new teachers in the pipeline to replace them… I think one of the reasons is honestly just teacher pay is incredibly low. The average teacher pay in Florida is about $54,000 a year. Which is just frankly not enough,” said Anna Corman, President and CEO of the Hillsborough Education Foundation.
The rising cost of living has made things even more difficult.
“Teachers just aren’t able to make ends meet, and I think that’s preventing people from wanting to go into teaching as a profession,” said Corman.
A lack of resources is another reason. Most teachers have to pay out of pocket for school supplies.
“On average, teachers spend about $800 out of their own pocket to purchase school supplies for the students in their classroom. When your pay is that low, you just don’t really have those extra funds to spend,” said Corman.
Resources like the Hillsborough Education Foundation try to help with that.
“Teachers can come here to the store. Every time they come, they get about $475 of free school supplies and resources,” said Corman.
She believes burnout also contributes to the shortage.
“They don’t feel appreciated or valued, and that’s certainly something the entire community can help support. Drop off donuts at their school or get school supplies,” said Corman.
Better pay is something Tampa Bay school districts have been working to improve.
Like in Hillsborough County, where voters recently approved a millage referendum to boost salaries.
Hillsborough County superintendent Van Ayres told ABC Action News that it’s already working.
“Special thanks to all our community around that millage referendum that was passed that allows us the ability to recruit and retain teachers. We’ve already noticed a difference just in this short period of time… I knew it would help, but to make this impact already—it’s a pleasant surprise that we’re making this impact,” said Ayres.
Hillsborough County is still in a shortage, but the district is in a much better place than last year.
Last school year, the district started with about 600 teacher vacancies.
“We’re down to about 430 as we currently sit today,” said Ayres.
Some other districts are seeing better numbers, too, as they try to improve teacher pay.
In Pinellas County, there are only 30 vacancies currently.
Pasco County is sitting at 95 openings. The district started at 141 at the beginning of the summer and 228 two years ago, making significant improvements.
Manatee County has 75 teacher vacancies. The district is within 10-15 vacancies of where it was last year, even with the addition of two new schools, which created more than 80 new positions.
Hernando County has about 90 openings, which is around the same as last year. Forty-two of those will be filled by Hernando’s Associate Teacher Program.
All of these districts said they’re working to make progress and will continue hiring up to and beyond the first day of school.
To make sure students have an instructor in the classroom on day one, substitutes play an important role in filling the gap.
ABC Action News spoke with Tina Mosley, the Vice President of Florida Operations for Kelly Education, an organization that helps provide substitutes to school districts.
“Schools are facing that increasing teacher shortage, so we are consistently maintaining a pipeline of qualified substitutes, and that helps us ensure that our schools are being supported when and where they’re needed… Just last year alone, for Hillsborough, we had about… over 235,000 absences filled,” said Mosley.
And while teachers like Blake who choose to stay in the profession also face challenges, it’s moments when her students tell her things like this that keep her pushing on.
“'Ms. Blake, I used to think I was dumb, and I know I’m not now.’ And then that’s it. To see that joy in their faces when they get it,” said Blake.