CoSN: School Staffing Is the Top Hurdle to K-12 Innovation

Hiring and keeping educators and IT staff remains the top challenge for K-12 education in 2025, according to the latest Driving K-12 Innovation Report from the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN). The annual report evaluates the most important hurdles (challenges), accelerators (trends), and tech enablers (tools) for the year ahead.

Notably, attracting and retaining educators and IT professionals has been a top hurdle for four years running. Rapid technological advancements and evolving educational needs have made it increasingly more difficult to hire and sustain highly qualified staff, the report said. Low financial compensation is a significant problem for both teachers and IT; other stressors include emotional burnout, lack of flexible work schedules, and more.

The report offers a number of recommendations to help overcome the hurdle:

  • Advocate for fair compensation and sustainable careers;
  • Develop comprehensive career pathways for educators and technicians; and
  • Create a culture that encourages intellectual curiosity and innovation.
  • Maximize AI tools to assist teachers with efficiency for routine tasks to avoid burnout.
  • Look to hire people who are willing to try to solve problems prior to seeking answers.
  • Find out what matters to your employees when it comes to retention.

CoSN's complete list of 2025 hurdles, accelerators, and tech enablers is as follows:

Hurdles

  • Attracting & Retaining Educators and IT Professionals
  • Evolution of Teaching & Learning
  • Digital Equity

Accelerators

  • Learner Agency
  • Building the Human Capacity of Leaders
  • Changing Attitudes Toward Demonstrating Learning

Tech Enablers

  • Generative Artificial Intelligence
  • Analytics & Adaptive Technologies
  • Untethered Broadband & Connectivity

The full report, with an analysis of and recommendations for each hurdle, accelerator, and tech enabler, is available here on the CoSN site.

About the Author

Rhea Kelly is editor in chief for Campus Technology, THE Journal, and Spaces4Learning. She can be reached at [email protected].

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