Education empowerment through advocacy and community.

Findings From SC for Ed’s “Temperature Check #5” (EXTRA DUTIES)

In October/ November of 2021, SC for Ed surveyed approximately 1,600 teachers and
other school staff through email and multiple social media platforms. The majority of the
responses (90%) were from teachers, and these responses represent 3% of all current
South Carolina teachers, with survey responses in some districts representing over 6% of
current district teachers.

Data from SC for Ed’s March 2021 "Temperature Check" Survey showed that over one
quarter of current school staff surveyed in March planned to leave their current positions,
a trend that has only worsened based on the current survey data, with 38% of those
surveyed planning to leave their current positions. Taken with those findings, the data
from the current survey reinforces the need for districts and other educational leaders to
better fund and prioritize both permanent teaching and support staff, and substitute
teaching staff.

The majority of school staff surveyed did not believe their schools had enough staff in place to remain safely open.

Updated 11/7/2021
Following are some key findings and statistics from the survey data, followed by
representative examples from the optional open-ended responses. The raw data from the
survey, along with comparisons across districts, can be found here:
tinyurl.com/fjjpx7h8.

Key Findings
1. The majority of school staff surveyed (56%) reported being required to
cover classes for absent staff members at least once per week, and
responses to the open-ended question suggested that this was both
significantly more often than in previous years, and more likely to add to staff
burnout. 39% of those required to cover classes were not paid for doing so.
2. Over 40% of surveyed staff reported being required to teach both virtually
and in person (“dual modality”) although districts are prohibited by South
Carolina law from requiring dual modality “unless it is reasonable and
necessary due to extreme and unavoidable circumstances”.
3. Although South Carolian law currently requires districts to pay teachers for
teaching both virtual and in-person students, 18% of respondents reported
being required to teach dual modality without additional pay.
4. While this survey focused on extra duties, responses about retention
suggested that the state faces a growing crisis in this area, with 38% of
staff surveyed planning to leave their current positions. According to
CERRA’s February update, there were 677 new teacher departures by
February, in addition to almost 6,000 reported in October.
5. Overall, the data suggests highly inconsistent responses to staffing issues
across districts and schools, with some districts offering bonus pay for class
coverage and dual modality instruction, some districts doing essentially
nothing to address the issues, and some schools within the same districts
responding in very different ways.
6. Many responses to the open-ended question also highlighted unnecessary
meetings and professional development, and other draining and
time-consuming extra duties.

38% of SC school school staff members planned to leave their

current positions following this school year.

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“We do not have enough subs. Every day in the middle school we are
adding 8-10 kids to our classes due to the sub shortage.”
-Beaufort
Representative Responses (Districts with 6% or More of Teachers Responding)

Beaufort (8% of current teachers responding; 27% of staff reported unpaid dual modality
requirements; 81% reported insufficient staff to safely keep schools open; 38% required
to cover classes without extra pay)
● “As we are getting into October things are improving. Numbers of Covid are on a
sharp decline. Subs don't seem to exist anymore but at least where I am they are
paying us to cover classes”
● “I’ve lost my morning planning time. I also lose my full planning block every
Wednesday for PLC. While PLC is valuable, I feel that we’ve jumped back into
“normal” school while COVID is worse than last year. I’m also planning for dual
modality with no extra time to do so.”
● “People who are not certified educators are covering and teaching classes. ESOL
and Literacy teachers are forced to stop serving their small groups of students to
cover classrooms that are unfilled with no substitutes.”
● “Dual modality is required when you have students in quarantine. They say we will
get $1000 at the end of the year, but not sure how that will go. We never have
enough subs. I am usually combining my class with another because we don’t have
subs and therefore; do not get paid because it isn’t during my planning that I am
covering. Just being required to cover 2 classes at once instead with no pay.”

Berkeley (6% of current teachers responding; 34% reported unpaid dual modality
requirements; 86% reported insufficient staff to safely keep schools open; 27% required
to cover classes without extra pay)
● “Safety protocols are not being followed. Admin is not keeping timely records on
cases or notifying close contacts consistently. Classes have been left without
supervision. ”
● “We began week 8 yesterday. As of yesterday, we’ve had 52 fights at our school. I’m
applying for jobs even though I’m only 8 years from retirement. I don’t feel safe at
work.”
● “I put that I was paid extra for covering and dual, but that remains to be seen. I've
been told I will be paid.”
● “In Kindergarten, we are often without subs for assistants and it feels like there’s not
a way to take a day off for illness due to the lack of subs.”
“We are now asked to clean our rooms and take out all trash because
we have most custodians out and no replacements.”

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 -Berkeley
“I am also being asked to do car rider duty along with bus
monitoring. It’s ridiculous all that they want us to do [on] top of
hardly any break during the day.”
-Dorchester
● “In addition to the challenges of extra duties including the loss of our lunch time, I
am extremely frustrated with the lack of discipline in our high school. We have at
least 100 unprocessed referrals and no admin in the hallways. Disrespect and refusal
to obey is rampant with fights occurring every day. With everything going on related
to COVID, this is my tipping point. I have been actively searching for jobs since the
second week of school. Even though we are getting paid for dual modality and
covering classes, it is not optional. I need the time and sanity back more than the
money.”

Dorchester (6% of current teachers responding; 45% reported unpaid dual modality
requirements; 82% reported insufficient staff to safely keep schools open; 15% required
to cover classes without extra pay)
● “On the question about covering, we get general emails at least 2 or 3 times a week
begging the staff to cover. Many teams often just split kids (especially in the arts
classes where it is harder to get subs or coverage) so we ‘cover’ more than just
subbing a whole plan period. We are also expected to have a dual modality for any
kid on quarantine so some days you have lots and some days none. We are supposed
to get paid a stipend at the end of the semester ($1000)”
● “There is no discipline. 23 years and have strong classroom management. Manage
more than actually teach. Students who stop the learning process have more rights
than the other 90 percent. Extra duties before and after school due to less staff.
Hard to teach on line and in person with so many distractions. Great
administrators but they are extra busy too. Need more security.”
● “We were told that we could no longer request personal days, on specific days
because there are not enough subs. Even though our requests meet all of the
guidelines in the staff handbook for requesting personal days.”

Richland 2 (6% of current teachers responding; very few reported unpaid dual modality
requirements; 84% reported insufficient staff to safely keep schools open; 52% required
to cover classes without extra pay)
● “Too much planning time taken away from teachers for things that do not benefit
students or teachers.”
● “It’s going great overall. Wonderful to be back in person. Lots more positives than
negatives”
“Quite stressful. Micromanaged. No gratitude.”

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 -Richland 2
“Too many open positions.”
-Richland 2

● “Our superintendent said we had a ‘relaxed’ year last year. There was nothing
relaxed about it. I’m in year 17, and I am about done. It’s not the kids or even the
building admin. The school board is ridiculous, I’d like a 14% raise like the R2
superintendent got (I don’t begrudge that raise at all!). With inflation $1,000 didn’t go
far. And, the SC Legislature don’t care for public schools. It’s just all enough. It’s just
enough.”
● “​​We have people covering 3/5 days a week.”

Additional Representative Responses (Various Districts)

● “...Teachers are stressed, tired, overwhelmed and have no support. One more
initiative is enough to break some people. I don’t expect everyone at my school to
work out their contract and there will surely be a mass exodus in June.” (Richland 2)
● “Parents do not truly know what is happening with staff shortages and how that
affects their child/safety” (Beaufort)
● “Not enough is being done to support the social and emotional changes that have
occurred and the children are displaying this through the most defiance, disrespect
and acting out that I’ve ever seen, to students and staff” (Horry).
● “It's very chaotic with [abrupt] policy changes, problems with staffing Student
Concern specialists, teachers, and even admin seem out a lot. Everyone is burnt out
and morale is low. Student behavior is pretty hard to manage, and I'm exhausted
every night. I keep wondering how I can keep on doing this. And we keep getting
surface level solutions that are nothing more than resource dumps that we have no
time to access in the first place” (Charleston).
● “Real tired of district & admin acting like COVID is over. Sick of toxic positivity,
tiering SLOs, kids rotating in-and-out, & having to explain details of any absences”
(Richland 2).
● “Students are unmasked and not able to be socially distanced in all classes”
(Darlington).
● “I’ve taught over twenty years and never seen anything like this. Admin wants us to
work miracles and pretend covid isn’t a thing while simultaneously keeping track of
who’s masking and how long they’ve been near each other. It’s impossible! Behavior
is off the chain!” (Darlington).
“It seems that our district is continually asking for more and
more from us, but they’re also not really giving us a break in
places where they could...”

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 -Anderson 5
“The decrease indicates that some of the vacancies have been
filled since October, but new vacancies also are being created as
teachers continue to resign.”
- Center for Educator​Recruitment, Retention, & Advancement
(CERRA) February 2021: Supply and Demand Update
Conclusions
South Carolina public school staffing issues have been well-documented for decades, and
teachers and student advocates have been sounding the alarm about these issues during
that time. However, there is a general sense in the education community, reflected in the
responses to this survey, that something that was badly damaged before is now potentially
broken. Many districts have received unprecedented short-term aid in the form of federal
funding, including $940,420,782 in ESSER II funds, yet many have not invested this funding
in staffing.

Furthermore, it is apparent that many school districts and individual schools have
responded to the perceived losses of virtual learning in ways that prioritize paperwork,
extra duties, and extra meetings, perhaps in an attempt to demonstrate to the public that
they are responsive to concerns voiced over the past two school years. It is clear that this
approach is contributing to staff burnout and may paradoxically have the effects of
worsening educational outcomes and making schools less safe. Many of the school staff
members who responded to the survey feel that these effects have, in fact, already taken
hold.

While there is much the state legislature can do to address the regular funding shortfalls
that have resulted in over $4 billion in lost per-pupil funding since 2012 (an average of
almost $500,000 per year), local districts must also take action with existing funding,
including federal funds, to address the staffing crises in many of our public schools, and
they must also take the easier (and essentially funding-neutral) step of removing
unnecessary duties, paperwork, and meetings from the plates of overworked and burnt out
staff members.

Related Resources (click for links)

● CERRA “Supply and Demand Report 2019-20”.
● CERRA February Update.
● “South Carolina Schools Dealing with Substitute Teacher Shortage”

Raw data from the survey, including district-by-district comparison data, can be found
here: tinyurl.com/fjjpx7h8.

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Statewide Statistics