Every Monday, senior Tate Brecht opens Canvas on his laptop, joins the InSpace video call, and gets ready for a 45-minute sociology lecture. The rest of the week, he does not have class.
Bretcht is one of approximately 50 students at PV who lost their sociology professor within the first three weeks of school.
Carlos Zeisel was the latest professor to be hired by Scott Community College to teach sociology—a dual enrollment class at PV. However, his work lasted as quickly as it started, for he was relieved before he could start his fourth week.
Students speculated that his termination may have been due to inappropriate comments and posts made on multiple platforms. Zeisel’s sociology students found his X account with a mere search of his name and were shocked to see his digital footprint.
Brecht expressed his opinions regarding his former teacher’s dismissal. “I think that having this teacher is a great lesson in the hiring process. Clearly, if we had looked into social media or other things, he wouldn’t have worked here,” he stated.
The hiring of Zeisel serves as a lesson, showing that before employing a member of staff, background checks are vital. As of now, Scott Community College and PVHS have worked to find a replacement for the sociology teacher. Currently, Zeisel’s former students take the course online, and once a week, they are taught by a professor living in Montana.
37 states have experienced teacher shortages in high schools, elementary, and colleges. A range of problems accounts for the educator exodus, from inadequate salaries, student behaviors and increasing politicization of the curriculum. Consequently, administrators have been forced to hire underqualified educators— like Zeisel.
Effects of the shortage involve the lack of substitute teachers as well. PV especially deals with classes being canceled because of the unavailability of substitute teachers. Senior Achinteya Jayaram shared his thoughts regarding this issue. “ Economics and AP Calculus have both been sent to study hall in the last year. And so my classmates and I struggle to keep up with the lessons we missed,” Jayaram remarked.
Bretcht also delved into this idea, connecting it to the absence of a sociology teacher. “It’s important that our schools provide us with the best teachers because what happened with the sociology teacher, shows that we aren’t always receiving the proper education we need.”
