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COVID-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on employment at local schools and public colleges
By Barb Rosewicz & Mike Maciag
November 10, 2020
Practically every segment of the economy has suffered this year as the
pandemic and resulting recession sparked massive job losses, but new
data suggests education workers have been among the hardest hit.
The latest U.S. Department of Labor estimates show that state and local
education employment was down 8.8% in October from the previous year,
representing the lowest national jobs total at that point in the school
year since 2000. The cuts were mostly driven by temporary layoffs and
positions left unfilled in the new school year. Private sector jobs, by
comparison, dropped 6.2% year over year.
The severity of public employment declines so far varies considerably
across states, which isn’t surprising given that some state and local
budgets have been hit harder by the new recession than others and that
schools have taken different approaches to reopening with in-person or
remote instruction.
In seven states, local education employment fell more than 10% over the
year as of September, based on the latest available state-level data.
Meanwhile only two states, North Dakota and Utah, recorded slight
gains. In most states, higher education employment fell at even greater
rates. Although teachers account for a portion of the local education
cuts, anecdotal evidence suggests that bus drivers, food service
personnel, support staff, and other noninstructional positions bore the
brunt of the initial reductions as schools shifted to distance learning.
The federal coronavirus aid package enacted earlier this year included
nearly $31 billion to help schools and colleges, and officials are
waiting to see if Congress will approve additional critical funding for
education.
Widespread declines in public school employment
The majority of the mostly temporary education job cuts have hit local
public schools, driving employment in the sector down in nearly every
state from September 2019 to September 2020. Nationally, local public
education is down 6.9% during the same period.
Nevada (-19%), West Virginia (-14%), and Florida (-13%) recorded the
largest declines from a year ago. Nevada lawmakers cut K-12 education
funding by about $160 million in a special session in July after the
pandemic temporarily shuttered casinos, hotels, and other
establishments that generate crucial sales tax revenue. The Clark
County School District, which includes Las Vegas and accounts for the
majority of the state’s student enrollment, did not fill several
hundred vacant teaching positions. Still, the county’s losses appear
much smaller than those in the statewide preliminary estimates, which
are subject to labor department revisions.
Local education jobs in Florida were similarly well below last
September. Many districts there experienced substantial drops in
student enrollment, which could lead to sharp reductions in per-pupil
funding. The state based funding for the current semester on July
projections that don’t reflect enrollment declines, but Governor Ron
DeSantis (R) has not yet announced whether this will carry over into
next year. The Florida Education Association published a letter to Gov.
DeSantis in September calling attention to an increase in teacher
retirements and resignations, adding that districts were holding back
spending in anticipation of potential budget cuts.
Some districts have already sustained significant reductions in state
funding. Georgia slashed its K-12 funding by $950 million, although
federal aid and reserves are expected to cover about half the
reduction. A review of the jobs data suggests states’ declines in local
education employment often mirror their private sector job losses.
North Dakota and Utah, with among the nation’s lowest unemployment
rates, were the only states registering gains in local education jobs.
News reports suggest many of the layoffs or furloughs so far have
targeted bus drivers, custodial staff, cafeteria workers, and other
support personnel, rather than teachers. Such noninstructional staff
account for about 30% of full-time equivalent jobs in U.S. elementary
and secondary education, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Annual
Survey of Public Employment and Payroll.
A significant portion of job losses may be temporary until students
physically return to the classroom. Of all unemployed state and local
government workers experiencing job losses, an estimated 70% reported
their layoff was temporary in the federal government’s September
Current Population Survey.
Nationally, local education jobs bottomed out in May, when they had
dropped by about 730,000 from February totals. They started recovering
in July and August before falling further in September and October.
Preliminary seasonally adjusted employment estimates remain down 8.3%
from pre-pandemic levels in February.
Higher education employment plummets
Meanwhile, public colleges and universities have sustained an even
sharper 13.7% drop in employment when October national estimates are
compared with pre-pandemic February totals, although the number of jobs
lost represents only about half the reduction to K-12 education (which
employs far more people).
Preliminary Labor Department estimates for state education were down
10.6% in September from a year ago. Five states experienced
losses exceeding 20%: Colorado, Maine, New Hampshire, Ohio, and
Wyoming. Many of these furloughs or layoffs reflect colleges delaying
reopening or canceling classes on campuses. An initiative by Davidson
College tracking reopening plans shows only about 28% of public and
private institutions are holding classes either fully or primarily in
person.
Higher education employment fell as the pandemic has triggered state
funding cutbacks, new expenses such as for testing and contact tracing,
and enrollment declines. In a Sept. 25 letter to congressional leaders,
higher education associations reported revenue losses, and new costs,
had already greatly exceeded the groups’ prior estimates. The National
Student Clearinghouse Research Center published data showing a 9.4%
drop in undergraduate enrollment for public two-year colleges and a
slight decline for public four-year institutions.
Many local school districts and public colleges have not needed to
issue many pink slips to trim their payrolls. Instead, with the
pandemic causing some teachers and staff to either retire or leave
their jobs, they’ve just not filled vacant positions. About 82% of
college and university presidents anticipated hiring freezes in a July
Association of American Colleges and Universities survey.
Given the magnitude of employment declines so far, public K-12 and
higher education could effectively act as a drag on broader economic
growth. Education, in fact, has experienced noticeably steeper declines
than most other areas of the economy. As of October, local government
jobs excluding education are down by a smaller but still significant
4.8% since before the pandemic hit the United States in February, while
state government workforces have remained relatively flat nationally.
Overall, public sector jobs have experienced more severe losses than at
any point during the Great Recession and subsequent recovery.
How Declines in Public Education Employment Compare With Major Industries
Change from February to October 2020
Industry
Percentage Total jobs
Leisure and
hospitality
-20.7% -3,486,000
State government education -13.7% -340,300
Information
-9.1% -262,000
Local government education -8.3% -666,200
Other
services
-7.3% -436,000
Education and health services (private) -5.4% -1,326,000
Professional and business services -5.3% -1,149,000
Wholesale
trade
-5.1% -303,600
Manufacturing
-4.8% -621,000
Local government, excluding education -4.8% -320,400
Transportation and warehousing -4.8% -270,700
Construction
-3.8% -294,000
Retail
trade
-3.2% -498,500
Financial
activities
-1.5% -129,000
State government, excluding education -0.6% -15,200
Federal
government
4.4% 126,000
Note: Data shown for select major industries employing at least 1 million workers.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, preliminary seasonally adjusted estimates, accessed Nov. 6, 2020
In 2021, school districts and colleges will continue to confront
multiple headwinds. Most states are projecting significant revenue
shortfalls that will threaten aid to education. But schools also often
rely heavily on local property taxes, a revenue stream that has yet to
incur major reductions. In the last recession, the deepest cuts to
public employment didn’t occur until well into the recovery, lagging
the private sector by a few years.
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