The response shocked her.

The staff member in the room at Bear Creek Middle School in Fulton County, Georgia, was a substitute, there to monitor behavior and ensure students completed their work. His actual teacher was hundreds of miles away, delivering instruction virtually for an Austin, Texas-based company called Proximity Learning. 

鈥淲e didn鈥檛 know our kids had virtual teachers,鈥� Wright said. 鈥淧arents need to be aware that that is the type of learning [students] are getting.鈥�

Live, online instruction in school has long linked students to subjects they couldn鈥檛 otherwise take, like A.P. Calculus or Latin. But as districts struggle to fill teaching vacancies, they are increasingly turning to companies like Proximity to teach core subjects. Districts are spending thousands, sometimes millions, of dollars on virtual teachers, according to 社区黑料鈥檚 review of purchase orders in , a data service. The practice 鈥� derided at the height of the pandemic as 鈥淶oom-in-a-room鈥濃�� is raising eyebrows as students return to school and continue to grapple with the lingering .

鈥淭his is happening all over,鈥� said Jennifer Carolan, co-founder and partner at Reach Capital, a firm that invests in education companies. She estimated that roughly a dozen companies offering virtual teaching have reached 鈥渕eaningful scale.鈥�

But she balked at investing herself after a member of her team visited a high school English class at a school near San Jose, California, taught virtually by a teacher from , another provider. 鈥淯ltimately, I could not stomach funding this because I would never send my kid to a school where they鈥檙e in ,” she said. “It doesn’t align with how I see education evolving.鈥�

Given shortages, however, district leaders insist a virtual teacher is better than none at all.

鈥淎t the end of the day, you鈥檝e got to find a way to get instruction in front of those children,鈥� said Andy Pruitt, spokesman for the Charleston County schools in South Carolina.

Charleston paid over $450,000 for Proximity teachers in math, language arts and social studies for 22 classes across seven schools last year 鈥� and sent an email to parents informing them of the practice prior to the start of school, Pruit said. But the district, which is using federal relief funds to give each of its almost 3,600 teachers this year, doesn鈥檛 expect to need Proximity again this fall. 

The picture looks different in Colleton County, about an hour to the west. The 4,900-student district will once again fill positions with teachers from New York-based . Last year, students had virtual teachers for in algebra, biology, English and history. 

The practice sparked some disarray, including students wandering out of class during lessons. led the school board earlier this year to approve $18,000 for high-tech cameras that allow virtual teachers to see the entire classroom. 

During a June board meeting, Wilsey Hamilton, the district鈥檚 human resources director, that with more than 60 open positions, her team is trying to lure back retired teachers and is advertising job openings on social media and digital billboards. But she couldn鈥檛 rule out using Fullmind for another year.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 see any other option but to continue that partnership to help fill some of our vacancies,鈥� she said. 

No shame

More than 40% of the nation鈥檚 schools reported teacher vacancies last year, according to the most recent data from the , with the worst shortages at high-poverty and high-minority schools. Heading into the new school year, many large districts, including and , are scrambling to fill positions. 

Like Charleston, at least 13 other South Carolina districts have used Proximity over the past two school years to fill gaps. 

Representatives from Education Solution Services, which owns Proximity, did not return calls or emails seeking comment on this article. 

Catherine Schumacher, executive director of Public Education Partners, a Greenville-based nonprofit, said keeping pace with in the state is likely one reason for the vacancies. Negative sentiment toward teachers could be another.

鈥淚t is really important that we do not shame districts for doing the absolute best they can to get qualified teachers,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e have systematically underpaid 鈥� educators for years, and we have been tolerating a climate that is demonizing teachers and public schools.鈥�

GovSpend reflects the mushrooming demand for virtual teachers. Yearly spending by districts on Proximity, for example, increased from $6.3 million in 2020 to over $21 million last year. And while Reach Capital didn鈥檛 fund Coursemojo, , another education sector investor, did. A third venture firm, General Catalyst, is betting on Chicago-based Elevate K-12, contributing last year to in the company. 

鈥淚t seems to be developing into a behind-the-scenes boom industry,鈥� said Kerry Chisnall, principal of Hawley Middle School in Creedmoor, North Carolina, which used four Elevate K-12 teachers last year. Located on the fringes of the Research Triangle, Chisnall said his district can鈥檛 pay teachers as much as larger districts, like nearby Durham. Elevate K-12, he said, is 鈥渁 godsend, absolutely.鈥�

Over 100 districts or charter networks, including at least 40 in Texas alone, have paid Proximity a total of more than $31 million for virtual teachers since the fall of 2021, GovSpend shows. They include the , which spent $546,000 for science and math courses, and the Jefferson Parish school system in Louisiana, which has spent $570,000 and recently signed a with the company for $861,000, to be financed with federal relief funds. 

The Memphis-Shelby County Schools in Tennessee is one of Proximity鈥檚 best customers 鈥� spending $6.63 million since January 2022. 

When the district first contracted with Proximity in 2019, Keith Williams, head of the Memphis-Shelby County Education Association, dismissed it as a and 鈥渁nother fly-by-night program.鈥� But now on the school board, he voted in June with the rest of the board in favor of a for 600 鈥渓ive sessions.鈥�

Williams didn鈥檛 return calls or emails seeking comment, and the district declined to respond to questions about Proximity.

Before school started last week, Interim Superintendent Toni Williams told that the company is one way the district is addressing vacancies.

But virtual teaching outposts also struggle with shortages, and a contract for remote instruction doesn鈥檛 guarantee a teacher will be there when students come back to class. 鈥淧roximity has challenges recruiting teachers just like brick-and-mortar schools,鈥� said Rachael Spriggs, a former teacher in the district who ran unsuccessfully for school board last year. The model, she said, is also 鈥渆xtremely expensive because you are funding two positions per Proximity class.鈥�

Danette Stokes, president of the United Education Association of Shelby County, another union in the district, said with classes taught by substitutes and virtual teachers throughout the year, it’s often unclear who is accountable for student performance.

鈥淭he children don鈥檛 care; they鈥檙e in and out,鈥� she said. And she echoed concerns about transparency. 鈥淭he principal is not going to introduce the Proximity teacher at a parent-teacher conference.鈥� 

鈥楾his problem isn鈥檛 going away鈥�

While researchers are still examining the impact of pandemic-era on students, there鈥檚 ample evidence that it set achievement back decades. Unreliable internet access, financial distress, disengagement from school and the health effects of COVID all limited students鈥� ability to learn while schools were closed. 

But done well, virtual teaching has the potential to accommodate educators鈥� increasing demands for and offer a better way to handle vacancies, said Shaily Baranwal, who founded Elevate K-12. 鈥淪chools were just putting kids in front of software or doing anything they could as a Band-Aid,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ur pitch to school districts is that this problem isn鈥檛 going away. It can鈥檛 be about filling a shortage; it has to be real teaching.鈥�

Over 260 districts across 33 states now use the program. The students don鈥檛 wear headphones, allowing them to interact more easily, and Baranwal expects districts to commit to an Elevate K-12 teacher for a full school year to provide consistency. 

But for Wright鈥檚 son in Fulton County, the in-school, virtual learning experience was frustrating. When a substitute wasn鈥檛 available, the school dispatched Proximity students to empty desks in other classrooms. From January to March, he took his remote math lessons in a regular social studies class, trying to block out distractions and listen to the Proximity teacher through headphones. The math teacher would sometimes mute the students’ microphones and only let them communicate through the chat function, Wright said.

Wright, herself a fourth grade teacher in another Atlanta-area district and head of a organization, isn鈥檛 opposed to virtual instruction. In fact, she considered applying for a Proximity job because she enjoyed teaching remotely during the pandemic.

鈥淚 understand what it takes to have engaging instruction,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen the child disappeared [from the screen], I was able to immediately text that parent.鈥�

Brian Noyes, a spokesman for Fulton schools, said the district tries to keep disruption to a minimum, but splitting up Proximity students is sometimes unavoidable when a substitute can鈥檛 be found. While the district is now 鈥�99% staffed,鈥� he said, some students will still get Proximity teachers this fall.

Wright hopes her son isn鈥檛 one of them.

鈥淭he environment wasn鈥檛 conducive to learning,鈥� she said. 鈥淐oming out of the pandemic, it doesn鈥檛 support them being able to function in the classroom.鈥�