State data highlights the persistent challenge teacher shortages continue to pose in Illinois, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
In Wisconsin, the state’s Department of Public Instruction finds teachers are exiting the state’s workforce “at an alarming rate,” according to a report released Thursday that analyzes educator retention data from the 2021-22 school year.
About 4 out of 10 new teachers leave the state or the profession completely within their first six years of teaching. On top of that, just 68% of students who earned a degree from an education preparation program in the state ended up working for a Wisconsin public school, the report said.
Meanwhile, a survey of 975 Illinois education agencies conducted by the Illinois State Board of Education found 4,096 teaching positions were left unfilled for the 2023-24 school year — a 3% vacancy rate. In a separate report by the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools, 91% of 756 education leaders surveyed said they experienced minor, serious or very serious problems with teacher shortages.
And in February, the Mississippi Department of Education reported 2,775 teacher vacancies statewide in 2023-24, an increase of 182 vacancies from the prior school year.
Like Wisconsin, Pennsylvania has pointed to challenges with its teacher workforce pipeline. For instance, the state certified about 20,000 new teachers annually 10 years ago. Now, that number has dropped dramatically to just 5,000 to 6,000 new certified teachers per year, according to the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency.
Finding solutions
As one solution, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro signed into law in 2023 a $10 million statewide Educator Pipeline Support Grant Program. Eligible student teachers will receive $10,000, with an additional $5,000 available for those in high-need areas. Program recipients must also teach in Pennsylvania for three years after earning their teaching certification.
Since the applications for the program opened last week, the state has received over 4,500 applications as of Friday, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency told K-12 Dive.
The Illinois surveys also asked district leaders about potential and ongoing solutions to address educator shortages. Almost 30% of leaders said their districts’ initiatives to place student teachers in classrooms and improve working conditions were effective in bolstering recruitment and retention. About half of leaders also said increasing the number of eligible days a substitute teacher could work helped.
Leaders said the most promising solutions for addressing educator shortages include modifying a district’s pension tier system, augmenting loan forgiveness programs for teachers, and increasing scholarships for teacher candidates.
Signs of teacher retention and staffing issues linger in national data, as well. Some 11% of teachers said they were very likely to look for a new job in the 2023-24 school year, according to a recent survey by Pew Research Center. Some 70% of teachers also said their schools are very or somewhat understaffed.
At the same time, districts are weighing teacher layoffs this spring amid declining enrollments, inflation-related budget challenges, and the wind-down of federal pandemic relief funds. Even as layoffs continue, concerns with teacher retention are still ongoing.
To address teacher shortages, more states and school districts are developing registered teacher apprenticeship programs with the U.S. Department of Labor to help aspiring educators get paid while they earn a teaching certification and train in the classroom alongside veteran teachers. In fact, 34 states and Puerto Rico have established registered teacher apprenticeship programs as of April, according to the U.S. Department of Education.
