Students left behind as Chicago high school suffers from staffing issues, teacher absences: Report

Students at a Chicago high school were left without a teacher for several weeks, an issue stemming from a teacher shortage and chronic absences in Chicago Public Schools (CPS), according to a report.

Roberto Clemente Community Academy (RCCA), a high school based in Humboldt Park and West Town, is plagued with staffing issues, the Chicago Block Club reported. 

The staffing crisis at the high school is reportedly attributed to a larger problem. Teachers told the Chicago Block Club that Clemente's issues are "compounded by the management and leadership approach of administrators."

RCCA is an institution that has largely served Puerto Rican families since the mid-1970s.

"About 46 percent of the teaching staff had more than 10 absences in 2023, according to CPS data. That means nearly half of Clemente teachers missed the equivalent of at least two weeks of school," the outlet reported.

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The outlet reported further, "Clemente is emblematic of a broader problem: CPS schools — and many other public schools across the country — are hamstrung by funding constraints and a nationwide teacher shortage, education experts said.

The outlet reported further that CPS officials "insist Clemente doesn’t have staffing issues."

Fox News Digital previously reported on the challenges of staffing teachers across the country. Particularly in Arizona, almost a quarter of their teaching jobs are consistently vacant.

Districts nationwide are shortening school weeks and consolidating classrooms due to the shortage of teachers.

Similar to Illinois and Arizona, other states where more than half their school districts have a tough time filling school vacancies include Nevada, Florida and Michigan.  

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School districts around the country are hiring internationally to help with the teacher shortage.

"They forgot about us," Carolina Carchi, a sophomore at RCCA, heard her classmate say. Her classmates were "growing restless" and "sitting in their classroom with little to do," the outlet reported. 

The statement from Carchi's classmate motivated her to step up to teach chemistry.

"When I heard that, this spark and passion grew in me," Carchi told the outlet. 

The students were told there would be a permanent teacher assigned to the classroom, but the teacher never showed up. Furthermore, they were given a substitute teacher, but the teacher did not know how to teach chemistry.

Carchi reportedly told herself: "No, you’re not going to be left out, they didn’t forget about you, and I’m going to be here to prove that."

The 15-year-old taught her classmates for two months during the winter of her sophomore year. 

The course was not assigned a permanent teacher until the following fall, the outlet reported.

"Clemente students are missing critical instruction because so many teachers are regularly absent and positions go unfilled for long stretches," the Chicago Block Club reported.

"As they deal with the stresses of working with students with significant needs, teachers say they’re not getting support from the school’s principal, which has left them burnt out and demoralized — and often absent," the outlet noted.

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CPS did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.