In the United States, the demand and supply of educators has waxed and waned over time. If you ask anyone today, most people would tell you that we are currently experiencing a teacher shortage. The need for teachers to fill our classrooms generally exceeds the number of teachers that are available to fill them. But what caused this to be our current reality?
Understanding the Teacher Shortage Crisis
Simply stating that we are fully in the grips of a K-12 teacher shortage might be a misleading statement. The issue is nuanced and deserves a closer look. Teaching jobs vary by school type, subject, and location. Some schools face a higher rate of teacher vacancies than others.
- Subject-Specific Shortages: Science, math, special education, and foreign languages often have the highest vacancy rates.
- Regional Disparities: Rural and low-income urban schools experience more severe shortages compared to affluent suburban districts.
Let’s take Michigan, for example. Studies have highlighted major shortages in the northwest and the upper peninsula, while the central part of the state is actually projected to see a teacher surplus. That does not mean that every school in those areas is experiencing those exact situations. Many central region schools might very adamantly disagree with this talk of a surplus. Just because there is a large number of teaching certified individuals available in a specific region, does not automatically mean that teacher vacancies can be filled. Geographical and logistical challenges often result in the demand and the supply not always matching up.
The U.S. Department of Education provides a handy interactive teacher shortage report that gives you the ability to dig into specific states and subject areas.
Where Are Teacher Shortages Most Severe?
There are a lot of different metrics that people use to determine and rank teacher shortage areas but none of them are perfect and none of them are clear cut. If someone tells you that ___ is the place with the highest teacher shortage, then they just chose one metric and they’re running with it. Various metrics include
- Teacher vacancies
- Student-to-teacher ratios
- The number of unqualified teachers filling classrooms
- Teacher turnover
- Educator preparation program projections
- Student enrollment projections
A group of researchers from several US universities developed an interactive tool to highlight the various ways of determining teacher shortages and how these methods interact with each other. Through this tool, readers can dive into each region and see where the largest vacancy rates occur.
Key Reasons for the Teacher Shortage
- Low Teacher Salaries
It’s probably the least surprising of all the reasons for the teacher shortage, but it’s a big one. Individuals can often make better salaries in other professions. This becomes especially prominent in specific areas. Let’s say, for example, a high school is located in a town just down the road from a manufacturing company. If someone has the skills and the degree to be a high school science teacher, why would they take that job when they could make twice as much just down the street? It becomes simple economics. Salary competitiveness plays a major role in the lack of teachers, particularly in STEM fields.
Teaching is also a place-based job that requires its employees to live within driving distance. If there are not available teaching candidates in the area, they will have to look elsewhere. But what incentive is there for a teacher to move to the area for the job? If the pay is no good, it’d be a lot easier to live where you want to live and just find a job there.
- Negative Perception of the Profession
Public perception of teaching has deteriorated over time. A NORC study from the University of Chicago found that only 18% of Americans would encourage their child to become a teacher.
Common reasons include:
- Lack of respect from students, parents, and the community.
- Negative rhetoric surrounding the profession.
- Challenging student behavior without adequate support.
- Politicization of education, with teachers sometimes accused of pushing ideological agendas.
- Teacher Burnout & Increased Workload
Government and local mandates add to the stress with more tasks being added to teachers’ plates every year. These include things like additional data collection, new initiatives, and further teacher evaluation requirements. Also, along with a teacher shortage comes more work for those that remain in the profession.
This only became worse during the COVID-19 pandemic, when teachers were thrust into teaching students in an environment in which they were never trained. The stresses that came along with this period of virtual teaching really wreaked havoc on the teachers’ mental health. Now that students have returned to the classroom, data show there have been losses to student achievement that make the jobs of those in charge of their learning even harder.
- Qualification Barriers & Certification Requirements
Each state has its own teacher certification process, but common hurdles include:
- Bachelor’s degree requirements
- Unpaid student teaching internships
- Expensive licensing exams
For many potential educators, these barriers make entering the profession difficult, particularly for career changers and parents who cannot afford unpaid work experience.
Can the Teacher Shortage Be Fixed?
There is no simple solution, but various policy changes and local initiatives aim to address the issue. In some areas, these include
- Relaxing certification requirements in high-need areas.
- Providing tuition assistance for education majors.
- Developing teacher apprenticeship programs to allow paid training opportunities.
- Grow-your-own programs that recruit local individuals to become teachers in their own communities.
The Bottom Line
The teacher shortage crisis must be addressed to prevent further deterioration of the education system. Without enough qualified educators, student learning outcomes will suffer. Schools, policymakers, and communities must work together to make teaching a more attractive and sustainable profession.
