86% of public schools in America need help hiring educators. A questionnaire conducted by Teachershortages.com in 2023-2024 showed a severe shortage of educators, leaving at least 55,000 vacant positions and 270,000 positions of underqualified teachers. One factor of this teacher shortage includes the COVID-19 epidemic which caused people to feel weary of working in enclosed spaces, like classrooms; this caused some teachers to choose early retirement. In addition, politicization of teaching has caused many teachers to leave the field. Finally, colleges aren’t graduating as many students with education majors which is not keeping up with the retirement rate.
In 2021-2022, the teacher turnover rate hit a historical high of 14%; sources show this is caused by low salaries, while other education-based jobs offer more. Superintendent Randy Gawel from the Orange East Supervisory Union states, “Compared to 15 or 20 years ago, there are half or fewer [people] going into education,” though he would like to make clear his numbers aren’t exact.
States with the highest teacher shortage are: Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and California. In Vermont, it is especially difficult to find teachers because living in small communities means that we have even fewer college graduates with education degrees. Additionally, we can’t attract teachers from other areas because there is a housing shortage. Vermont’s lack of affordable housing makes it challenging for young people to settle in the state, discouraging them from building their futures here. High housing costs often outpace entry-level incomes, creating barriers that contribute to a shrinking workforce and hinder community growth.
According to a recent U.S. Department of Education report, “Vermont has 10% fewer educators than it did before the pandemic. That’s the worst mark in the country, save Alaska.” As of the publication of this article, Orange East Supervisory Union still has 13 open teaching positions 5 months into the school year. On top of the teaching positions, OESU provides other job opportunities that can be found at this link.
