When Francesca Alonso was hired as a teacher in 2018, she never imagined she would leave the profession a few short years later.
Alonso worked in the DeKalb County, Georgia, school district as a special education teacher for pre-K students. From the beginning, she said she received little support from administrators, needed to supplement her own curriculum and had one paraprofessional to aid her in the classroom despite being promised three. Additionally, Alonso said, her students became more physically violent as time went on.
Overwhelmed by the demands, Alonso left teaching in the summer of 2022. She isn’t alone – teachers across Georgia have been resigning from the profession for many of the same reasons.
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While there is no statewide data on teacher shortages, a number of districts have said they are lacking teachers, according to news reports. The state is attempting to solve the problem by boosting the pay for K-12 educators. Gov. Brian Kemp included a $2,000 a year pay increase in his budget for the 2024 fiscal year, which begins July 1. It’s the second straight year Kemp, with support from the state legislature, has increased teacher pay.