Jersey City Superintendent Norma Fernandez said her school district was left with no other choice than to use a virtual teaching model to fill the 45 or so teacher vacancies they have starting this year.

“[Students are] able to sit through a virtual class, in their building, for a period where there will be a paraprofessional with the students, assisting as the teacher is on the monitor, remotely, interacting with the students,” Fernandez said. “And these are certified teachers in the content area.

Still, she acknowledged it’s not ideal: “Our preference, hands down, is to have in-person teachers. This is a band-aid.”

Jersey City is one of several districts that have gone virtual to help fill gaps left by the ongoing teacher shortage. The district is using a virtual teaching company called Edmentum, one it has used before for tutoring. Paterson is starting its third year using a similar program called Proximity, helping to fill some of its 149 teacher vacancies across the district.

“What I believe is that we should have a certified teacher in every single classroom, teaching in person,” said Laurie Newell, superintendent of Paterson Public Schools. “The next best is, well, if we have a certified teacher who can work with our students, virtually, then we’ll take that too. Without having that as an option, I would literally have almost 150 vacancies just filled with substitutes. And so I’m grateful for the innovative thinking, that we have this online platform.”

“What I believe is that we should have a certified teacher in every single classroom, teaching in person,” said Laurie Newell, superintendent of Paterson Public Schools. “The next best is, well, if we have a certified teacher who can work with our students, virtually, then we’ll take that, too.

“Without having that as an option, I would literally have almost 150 vacancies just filled with substitutes,” she said. “And so I’m grateful for the innovative thinking, that we have this online platform.”

The contract with Proximity to fill about 75 of those vacancies comes at the cost of $2 million for this year, Newell said. Paterson schools paid the same amount last year as well.

Leaders in education, including at the New Jersey Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, contend this has to be a last resort. The NJEA is a funder of NJ Spotlight News.

“It’s problematic … on a number of fronts,” said Sean Spiller, president of the NJEA. “Number one, as we come out of COVID here, we’re all cognizant of the fact that virtual learning, while important to keep someone safe, is not the best way to engage in instruction. . . And that being said, we’re also saying, ‘uh-oh, we can’t fill positions, so we’re going virtual here.'”

Paterson is using Proximity across upper and lower grade levels in the district, where Jersey City is only using it in the high schools. Part of the reason for that, said Fernandez, is that it’s been easier to find teachers for the lower grades.

The chair of the state Senate Education Committee is not a big fan of the strategy but understands where it’s necessary.

“I get Paterson’s situation, very, very difficult,” said state Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Monmouth). “But the district needs to show that they’ve really worked to find those teachers and they haven’t been able to. It needs to be after they have tried everything possible.

“I have had districts that say listen, ‘we’ve done sign-up bonuses, we’ve done everything, we still can’t get them,'” he said. “For temporary solutions, I understand. We have to do it.”

But Gopal and the other education leaders said there is also more that needs to be done to attract teachers into the profession.