K-12 Educator Pipeline Resource Hub

The growing teacher shortage crisis

School districts today face one of the most pressing challenges in education: ensuring that every classroom has a well-prepared, effective teacher. That includes both general education and special education classrooms, where the demand for skilled educators continues to grow.

What was once a local concern has now escalated into a nationwide crisis, with a shortage of qualified educators affecting schools across the country. For the 2024–25 school year, researchers estimated nearly 49,000 vacancies nationwide, with another 400,000 positions filled by underqualified hires. Leaders report that roles in special education, ELL, and STEM remain persistently difficult to staff. Even once-stable fields like elementary and social studies now attract fewer high-quality candidates. At the same time, traditional teacher preparation program enrollment has decreased 30% over the past decade, with completions down 23%. The result is a growing struggle to staff classrooms as student needs and community expectations continue to rise.

Amid these shortages, district leaders often share the same frustration: “No one wants to teach anymore.” Burnout, inflexibility, and lost professional prestige dominate a negative national narrative, and in conversation after conversation, we hear leaders echo these themes. There is truth here—teaching has never received the respect it deserves. The problem is that, at the same time leaders want to overcome these narratives, they too often seem to believe them.

Plus, changing the national storyline would be a difficult task for any single district. Instead, districts can make immediate progress by focusing on the areas where they can influence talent decisions. The good news is that district leaders can improve interest and recruitment now while also contributing to changing the broader narrative over time. EAB has broken down the daunting challenge of attracting more talent into an education career by isolating five key decisions school districts can influence. Read on to learn more about the Educator Talent Funnel, which provides districts with a framework to achieve this.