Teacher shortages remain visible in both school staffing conditions and the supply of future educators. In August 2024, 82% of U.S. public schools needed to fill at least two teaching vacancies before the 2024–25 school year, while 74% filled at least two. By October 2024, half of public-school leaders said their school was understaffed. These figures describe different moments and measures, but together they show why vacancies, certification, preparation, and retention all matter when evaluating teacher shortages.
Contents
- How widespread are vacancies and understaffing?
- How difficult is hiring?
- Which subjects are hardest to staff?
- What does the preparation pipeline show?
- How do turnover and attrition contribute?
- What does the employment outlook project?
How widespread are vacancies and understaffing?
The National Center for Education Statistics School Pulse Panel measured substantial staffing needs before the 2024–25 school year. In August 2024, 82% of U.S. public schools needed to fill at least two teaching vacancies. The same month, 74% reported that they had filled at least two teaching vacancies before the school year began. The two percentages are not opposites: schools could need multiple teachers and fill multiple positions while still having vacancies remaining. NCES School Pulse Panel
By October 2024, 35% of U.S. public schools reported at least one teaching vacancy. That compares with 37% in October 2023 and 44% in October 2022. These measurements are snapshots taken in different school years, so they should not be treated as a complete annual trend or as a count of vacant positions. They do show that a sizeable share of schools reported at least one vacancy after the school year was underway.
October 2024 data also show how vacancies affected school operations:
- 50% of U.S. public-school leaders reported that their school was understaffed.
- 34% reported being understaffed in special-education positions.
- 31% reported losing teaching positions compared with the prior school year.
- 31% said staff vacancies required non-teaching staff to work outside their intended duties.
For an earlier comparison, 45% of U.S. public schools were operating without a full teaching staff in October 2022. The October 2022 and October 2024 measures are related indicators of staffing pressure, but they are not identical questions and should be read as separate reported statistics. NCES School Pulse Panel NCES, Teacher Openings in Elementary and Secondary Schools
How difficult is hiring?
Having a vacancy is different from being able to fill it with a fully certified teacher. Among U.S. public schools with vacancies, 74% reported difficulty filling at least one teaching position with a fully certified teacher before the 2024–25 school year. Hiring obstacles were also widespread: 64% cited an overall lack of qualified candidates, and 62% cited too few candidates applying.
The reported difficulty was higher in the comparable August 2023 measure. Before the 2023–24 school year, 79% of U.S. public schools reported difficulty filling at least one teaching vacancy with a fully certified teacher, while 70% said too few candidates applying challenged hiring. The percentages come from separate school-year surveys and do not establish that hiring conditions changed by a particular number of percentage points.
Earlier NCES data provide additional context for the hiring problem. In August 2022, 49% of U.S. public schools said an inability to fill teaching vacancies since the start of the coronavirus pandemic contributed to understaffing entering 2022–23. In that same period, 70% said too few candidates applying challenged filling teaching vacancies, and 64% said a lack of qualified candidates was a challenge. IES, Most U.S. public elementary and secondary schools faced hiring challenges for the start of the 2024–25 academic year
Which subjects are hardest to staff?
Special education appears repeatedly among the difficult-to-fill areas, but the pattern differs by school level. Before 2024–25, 74% of public elementary schools with special-education vacancies had difficulty filling them with a fully certified teacher. The same measure was 74% for public middle or combined schools and 66% for public high or secondary schools with special-education vacancies.
Other subjects also had high reported difficulty before 2024–25:
| School level | Subject and measure | Share reporting difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Elementary | ESL or bilingual education | 59% |
| Elementary | Foreign language | 59% |
| Middle or combined | Physical science | 71% |
| Middle or combined | Foreign language | 69% |
| High or secondary | ESL or bilingual education | 69% |
| High or secondary | Physical science | 66% |
These percentages apply only to schools with a vacancy in the named subject and refer to difficulty filling it with a fully certified teacher. They are not the share of all schools, all teachers, or all open positions. IES, Most U.S. public elementary and secondary schools faced hiring challenges for the start of the 2024–25 academic year
The 2020–21 school-year data use a different standard: the share of public schools with vacancies that found them “very difficult or impossible” to fill. Foreign-language vacancies led this measure at 42%, followed by special education at 40% and physical science at 37%. Mathematics and ESL or bilingual education were each 32%; computer science, career or technical education, and biology or life science were each 31%. Because the question and period differ from the 2024–25 measure, these results are best used to identify recurring pressure areas, not to calculate changes between surveys. NCES, Teacher Openings in Elementary and Secondary Schools
What does the preparation pipeline show?
Teacher-preparation enrollment and completion provide a longer-term view of potential supply. NCES reported 676,779 people enrolled in U.S. teacher-preparation programs in the 2012–13 academic year, compared with 591,353 in 2020–21. The number completing a program fell from 190,089 in 2012–13 to 160,087 in 2020–21.
Another NCES summary gives a more detailed year-by-year comparison through 2019–20. Total teacher-preparation enrollment fell 19%, from 675,900 in 2012–13 to 546,500 in 2018–19, then rose 8% to 590,000 in 2019–20. Even after that increase, the 2019–20 total remained 13% below the 2012–13 total.
The composition of preparation also changed. Enrollment in traditional teacher-preparation programs fell 30%, from 591,700 in 2012–13 to 412,200 in 2019–20. Enrollment in alternative programs rose 111%, from 84,100 to 177,800 over the same period. Meanwhile, the number completing teacher-preparation programs fell 20%, from 189,200 in 2012–13 to 151,100 in 2019–20.
The 2020–21 enrollment and completion totals and the 2019–20 program-type figures come from different NCES tables and periods. They should not be combined into one single-year rate. They do show a smaller overall preparation pipeline than in 2012–13, alongside growth in alternative routes. NCES, Number and percentage distribution of persons who were enrolled in and who completed a teacher preparation program NCES, Teacher Openings in Elementary and Secondary Schools
How do turnover and attrition contribute?
Shortages can be sustained when schools lose experienced staff or when new teachers move between schools. Among public-school teachers, 84% stayed at the same school between 2020–21 and 2021–22, 8% moved to another school, and 8% left teaching. Among private-school teachers, 82% stayed, 6% moved schools, and 12% left teaching over the same period.
Experience and school context also matter. Among public-school teachers with three or fewer years of experience, 80% stayed at the same school in 2021–22, 13% moved schools, and 7% left teaching. Among public-school teachers with at least 15 years of experience, 86% stayed at the same school and 9% left teaching. At public schools where at least 75% of students received free or reduced-price lunch, 9% of teachers left teaching in 2021–22.
| Teacher group | Stayed at same school | Moved school | Left teaching |
|---|---|---|---|
| Public-school teachers | 84% | 8% | 8% |
| Private-school teachers | 82% | 6% | 12% |
| Public teachers with 3 or fewer years’ experience | 80% | 13% | 7% |
| Public teachers with 15 or more years’ experience | 86% | Not provided | 9% |
The categories describe outcomes between two school years, not reasons for leaving or moving. They also should not be interpreted as a direct measure of the number of vacancies created, since a school may replace a departing teacher or fill a position in another way. IES, Eight Percent of Public School Teachers Left Teaching in 2021
What does the employment outlook project?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects relatively stable employment totals for several teacher occupations from 2024 to 2034. These are national occupational projections, not forecasts of school vacancies or certification needs. They also do not measure whether schools can recruit teachers in a particular subject or location.
| Occupation | 2024 jobs | 2034 projected jobs | Projected change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elementary teachers, excluding special education | 1,419.3 thousand | 1,413.4 thousand | −0.4% |
| Middle-school teachers, excluding special and career/technical education | 630.1 thousand | 627.4 thousand | −0.4% |
| Secondary teachers, excluding special and career/technical education | 1,087.5 thousand | 1,085.0 thousand | −0.2% |
| Special-education teachers | 584.1 thousand | 583.8 thousand | −0.1% |
| Preschool teachers, excluding special education | 583.2 thousand | 609.4 thousand | +4.5% |
BLS therefore projects small declines for elementary, middle-school, secondary, and special-education employment categories, while preschool teacher employment excluding special education is projected to rise 4.5%. Stable or declining national employment does not rule out local shortages: the school-level data above measure vacancies and hiring difficulty, while BLS projections describe occupational employment totals. BLS, Occupational projections and worker characteristics