Teacher shortages

Overview

In the 2020s, many school districts throughout the United States have a shortage of teachers because more teachers are resigning prior to retirement and fewer candidates are available to replace them. The reasons teachers are abandoning the profession are myriad. However, most cite low pay and high stress as the main drivers. Some have left because of health and safety concerns, which are often related to the high number of school shootings in the country, and political and academic pressures.

Not all US schools have teacher shortages, however. Some districts have all the teachers they need. Determining where teacher shortages are the most severe is difficult because the number of students is not the same in all school districts. For example, a district with two teacher vacancies and five thousand students has a more serious teacher shortage than a district with two vacancies and ten thousand students. Many vacancies have been filled with underqualified individuals, which makes finding the exact number of true vacancies even more difficult. In general, however, teacher shortages are the most serious in rural areas. Teacher shortages are also higher in some subjects than others. Special education and high school math teachers are in high demand.

Remedying the situation is challenging, and the only available options in some school districts are not good for students or teachers. School districts may require teachers to teach more than one classroom at a time. They may hire virtual instructors who are in another area and are shown on a screen in front of the classroom. In many cases, schools hire underqualified individuals to fill teacher vacancies. They may be student teachers; teachers who are not certified in the subject they are teaching; individuals who are not certified at all; or long-term substitutes, who may not have a college degree, certification, or teacher training.

To end the teacher shortage, experts contend that systemic changes must be made. Among these changes are increasing teacher salaries, providing additional support for paraeducators, and offering onsite training for newly hired teachers.

Teacher Salaries

Teacher shortages in the United States have existed since the 2010s and beyond. The Great Recession was a worldwide economic crisis that lasted in the United States from 2007 to 2009. The most severe economic recession in the United States since the Great Depression (1929–1939), the recession began when the US housing market crashed. The unemployment rate doubled, and the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) declined. This led to federal and state funding cuts. According to the National Education Association (NEA), while teachers continued to receive raises after the recession, they were one-third to one-half of what they were at the start. In 80 percent of the school districts surveyed by the NEA (33 out of 41), teachers had a pay freeze or cut at least once in the school years 2008–2009 and 2011–2012. The instability caused by the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 and high rates of inflation have also prevented teachers from receiving pay increases comparable to those they received in the past. According to the NEA, the average teacher salary, which varies widely by state, was $66,397 during the 2021–2022 school year. When this salary is adjusted for inflation, teachers earn $2,179 less than they did ten years prior. The situation is much worse for new hires. According to the NEA, 5,600 school districts pay starting teachers less than $40,000. The starting salary for teachers has been estimated between $35,510 and $45,880.

All teachers are required to have a bachelor’s degree, and more than half of US teachers also have a graduate degree. Despite this, they earn less than employees in other fields with a similar level of education. Furthermore, this gap between teacher salaries and those in other fields has grown through the 2010s and early 2020s. According to the Economy Policy Institute (EPI), in 2021, teachers made an average of 23.5 percent less per week than other college graduates in the workforce, while in 2019, this percentage was only 5 percent less. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), on average, teachers work fifty-two to fifty-eight hours per week. Teachers work more than those in comparable occupations but earn less.

High Demands and Stress

Teachers also leave the classroom because of the high demands placed on them. When fewer teachers are available, class sizes increase. More students in a classroom means a heavier workload for a teacher, who must also deal with additional behavioral problems and disruptions. Teachers often do not receive the support they need to manage a large number of students. School districts have other staff shortages, including paraeducators (teacher aides) and substitute teachers.

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated teacher stress and shortages. When schools were closed, teachers had to transition to virtual learning. Some chose not to return to the classroom when it was safe to do so. Many paraeducators did not return either. This was also true of substitute teachers, bus drivers, and administrative staff. The pandemic also disrupted teacher hiring; fewer teachers were hired while the number of teacher layoffs spiked.

Many Vacancies

The number of newly hired teachers has remained significantly below the number of vacancies. This is partly because of a lack of qualified applicants.

According to the NCES, the number of students earning education degrees was substantially lower in 2018 than it was in 1970. In fact, the number was lower than at any point during the last fifty years. Students are opting for higher-paying fields such as engineering, health care, and computer science. Adding to the problem is the large number of education majors who, after receiving their degrees, decide not to teach. Others quit shortly after they are hired because they are overwhelmed and unprepared to handle the demands of the job.

Because of these and other issues, the number of teacher vacancies has significantly increased. Researchers at Kansas State University discovered 36,500 vacancies in thirty-seven states and Washington, DC, during the 2021–2022 school year. The number of vacancies increased to 49,000 during the 2022–2023 school year.

It is difficult for researchers to determine which areas or states have the most severe teacher shortages because a shortage depends not only on the number of vacancies in a school district but also on the number of students. However, the researchers at Kansas State University discovered some states with high ratios, which indicate a serious teacher shortage. These states included Arizona, which had 2,890 teacher vacancies during the 2022–2023 school year. This is about 26 vacancies per 10,000 students. West Virginia had 1,500 teacher vacancies, which is 60 vacancies per 10,000 students. Teacher shortages are often worse in rural and low-income areas and in schools where at least three-fourths of the students are people of color. These are the students who were hardest hit by the pandemic and had the most serious disruptions in their education.

The number of teacher vacancies is higher in some academic subjects as well. Experts believe that the greatest need for teachers is in special education, especially after the pandemic caused schools to close. This is followed by teachers certified in English language learning (ELL) and computer science. Social studies and English/language arts had the fewest teacher vacancies.

Applications

School districts with teacher shortages have tried to fill the void in several ways. The most obvious is to increase class size. Schools may double-up classrooms. A teacher may be responsible for teaching fifty or more students at a time. Other times, students from several classrooms are sent to the auditorium to be taught by the one teacher in the school who is certified in a subject. Such arrangements are stressful for students, who find it more difficult to concentrate, and for teachers, who struggle to ensure that all students are paying attention and learning.

Another option for schools is to hire virtual teachers, a trend that became popular when schools were closed during the pandemic. Virtual instruction is provided by companies such as Fullmind, Elevate K-12, and Coursemojo. Many other virtual instruction companies opened during the pandemic. With virtual instruction, a certified teacher is projected onto a large screen in the front of the classroom. Prior to the pandemic, virtual instruction was used to teach classes that students could not otherwise access, such as Latin and advanced placement (AP) courses. However, since the pandemic, virtual teachers have been used to teach required courses such as history, biology, English, and algebra. According to The 74 Million, school districts are spending hundreds of thousands—even millions—of dollars on virtual instruction. Ideally, a substitute teacher is present during virtual instruction to handle disruptions and ensure that students stay seated and do not leave. However, a shortage of substitute teachers also exists. Because of this, some schools have invested in high-tech cameras costing more than $15,000 per classroom to enable virtual teachers to be able to see the entire room.

School districts with serious teacher shortages have tried to fill the void by filling teacher vacancies, at least temporarily, with staff members who are not qualified to teach. According to researchers at Kansas State University, in addition to the estimated 49,000 vacancies during the 2022–2023 school year, more than 165,500 positions are filled by teachers who are not certified in the subject they are teaching or who are not certified at all. Students of color and low-income students are the most likely to be taught by underqualified teachers, even though states receiving Title I federal funding are required to address disparities.

In some cases, school districts are attempting to turn other school staff members into teachers by helping them become certified. These staff members include paraeducators as well as bus drivers and custodians.

According to The 74 Million, Arizona has more than five thousand teaching positions that are either vacant or filled by underqualified staff. To remedy this, school districts have begun hiring student teachers in their senior year of college to fill their teacher vacancies, hoping that they will return in the next school year. This practice is controversial because student teachers are supposed to be accompanied by an experienced teacher who prepares them to eventually teach in a classroom alone.

Long-term substitutes have been offered teaching positions in some districts. However, they are not required to have a degree or teacher training. They often do not have classroom management skills, such as dealing with misbehavior and getting the class to refocus after a disruption.

Viewpoints

Most educational experts believe that several critical changes must be made to alleviate teacher shortages in the United States. Boosting teacher pay is one. States need to increase teacher salaries so that they are comparable to other professions. Federal aid may be needed to do this. Federal and state grants might attract prospective teachers to subject areas where they are most needed, such as special education and bilingual education. Federal loan forgiveness and housing incentives are needed to entice teachers to work in rural and low-income areas.

More funding must be allotted to increasing the number of paraeducators and substitute teachers in schools. “Grow Your Own” programs provide pathways for these individuals to eventually become qualified teachers. Such programs encourage more individuals to enter the profession. High school students who are interested in becoming teachers may work toward obtaining certification for employment as a paraeducator after graduation. This provides them with a relevant job while they pursue an education degree and teacher certification.

Schools need to work to provide substitute teachers with classroom management skills. To attract the best applicants, districts can assign substitute teachers to a single school for an entire year. This ensures that substitutes are available to offer support to teachers while they are in the classroom and when they need time off. It also provides substitute teachers with a chance to get to know students and faculty members and feel as if they are part of a school community.

Experts contend that teacher preparation programs need to be updated so that newly hired teachers know what to expect in the classroom. They are unprepared to deal with teacher shortages, larger classes, and students who have fallen behind during the pandemic.

Because of teacher shortages, some states have lowered the requirements for entry-level teachers. These individuals need continued training to succeed in their profession. It is difficult, if not impossible, for new teachers to inspire students to learn if they cannot make students behave. According to Teacher Career Coach, 44 percent of teachers—more than one-third—leave the profession during the first five years. Efforts must be made to retain newly hired teachers. Principals can assist with this. They should be trained in teaching so they can mentor and assist new hires.

Lastly, efforts must be made to retain teachers of color. According to studies, students of color are more likely to succeed when they have teachers of their own race. Aligning a school’s culture with the values of teachers of color is often key. Teachers of color are more likely to remain at schools where the staff has a mindset that underprivileged students of color can succeed. They often value schools that connect to the community. These educators should be given the autonomy to teach courses about specific topics and concerns in underserved communities.

About the Author

Adrienne Kennedy holds bachelor’s degrees in communications and secondary education from King’s College and a master’s degree in English from the University of Scranton. She is a former college instructor and has worked in educational publishing for more than twenty years. She is also a published author of both nonfiction and fiction.

Bibliography

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McMurdock, M. (2022, October 5). Facing Regional Shortages, US Schools Now Employing 160,000 ‘Underqualified Teachers.’ The 74 Million, www.the74million.org/article/facing-regional-shortages-u-s-schools-now-employing-160000-underqualified-teachers/. Accessed 11 Oct. 2023.

Nguyen, T. (2022, August 23). Report by K-State Researchers Details Teacher Shortage by State. Kansas State University, www.k-state.edu/media/newsreleases/2022-08/teacher-shortage82322.html. Accessed 11 Oct. 2023.

Schmitt, J. and DeCourcy, K. (2022, December 6). The Pandemic Has Exacerbated a Long-Standing National Shortage of Teachers. Economic Policy Institute, files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED626637.pdf . Accessed 11 Oct. 2023.

Walker, T. (2022, April 26). Average Teacher Salary Lower Today Than Ten Years Ago, NEA Report Finds. NEA Today, www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/average-teacher-salary-lower-today-ten-years-ago-nea-report-finds. Accessed 11 Oct. 23.

Why Teachers Quit + The Signs That Quitting Teaching Is the Right Move. (n.d.) Teacher Career Coach, teachercareercoach.com/why-teachers-quit/. Accessed 11 Oct. 23.