CLEVELAND — As thousands of Ohio teachers have left classrooms over the past five years, the percentage of children ready to start kindergarten has dropped to its lowest level since the state began to take it into account.

Meanwhile, the city of Cleveland, the state and now Washington DC have invested funds in early childhood education to train and retain teachers and help parents pay tuition.

Right here in Cuyahoga County, the largest provider Head Start is hiring more teachers after increasing benefits.

In Alicia Million’s Early Early Start classroom, you’ll find children playing and learning. Right in front of the building are empty classrooms, filled with silence for lack of enough teachers to fill them.

For 50 years, Million has taught Early Head Start simply because she loves it.

“I love seeing little people go from being infants, where they can’t do anything, to being independent,” Million said.

But, due to a persistent teacher shortage, an already dynamic environment sometimes becomes overwhelming.

“We can’t take a lunch break and we can go out of space to take more. Sometimes we just need a whoosah when all we need is a deep breath. We can’t even, we can’t even do that,” Million said.

Step Forward is the state’s largest Head Start provider; since Thursday, they have:

• 57 vacancies
• 21 closed classrooms
• 655 children who will not have a place until they have more teachers.

“We’re serving the kids we’re supposed to serve right now, but we need people to come to us to serve more,” said Dr. Thea Wilson, vice president of children and families.
The shortage of Head Start teachers is not limited to Cuyahoga County; this is seen across the state.

“It’s an epidemic across the country. It really is and I see it. Unfortunately, at all grade levels,” Wilson said.

In an effort to boost hiring, Wilson says they’ve increased signing bonuses and salaries, created a leadership academy for professional development and are now covering the cost of a bachelor’s degree.

“I think it behooves us to really look at why they’re moving away from this area,” Wilson said.

For these teachers, they know the importance of having a well-rounded staff, not only for themselves but for their children.

“So it’s important for our society to educate our children, but it’s also important for our workforce to have a place where children can be,” Wilson said.

Wilson says last year there were 100 vacancies, so it’s clear their method is working. They say this is continuing so they can open more classes.