Addressing Teacher Shortages: Insights From Four States

This blog is part of the series, Solving Teacher Shortages, which highlights innovative and evidence-based initiatives and explores policy options and other approaches to building a strong and stable teacher workforce.

From urban to rural and red states to blue, school districts across the United States are challenged by teacher shortages. Last year alone, there were more than 400,000 teacher positions either unfilled or filled by teachers not fully certified for their assignments, representing about 1 in 8 of all teaching positions nationally. In response, many states are implementing innovative, research-backed strategies to recruit and retain teachers. Examining their approaches can help scale success nationwide.

In December, in preparation for 2025 state legislative sessions, the Learning Policy Institute partnered with the Education Commission of the States, the National Association of State Boards of Education, and the National Conference of State Legislatures to host four webinars on key education challenges. State policymakers and education leaders from all 50 states and several territories tuned in and heard successful strategies directly from other state leaders.

Two webinars—Building and Retaining the Teacher Workforce and Long-Term Solutions to Teacher Shortages—included leaders from California, Mississippi, New York, and Texas who shared their state’s successes in tackling teacher workforce issues. Their experiences may offer lessons for other states seeking to use legislative actions and financial incentives to better prepare and retain educators.

The Root of the Problem: Teacher Attrition and Turnover

Teacher shortages stem largely from attrition rather than a lack of new educators entering the field. Research indicates that 90% of annual teacher vacancies result from teachers leaving the profession, often due to low salaries, difficult working conditions, and inadequate support. Teachers without full preparation leave at 2 to 3 times the rate of those who are fully prepared.

High turnover negatively impacts student learning and undermines school improvement efforts. Schools with frequent teacher turnover see lower student achievement and face higher financial burdens, with teacher turnover costs ranging from $12,000 per teacher in small districts to $25,000 in larger ones. Schools serving more students of color and students from low-income backgrounds struggle the most to attract and retain certified and experienced educators.

State Approaches: What Is Working?

California: A $1 Billion-Plus Investment in the Teacher Workforce

California has long struggled with teacher shortages and has been actively implementing strategies to build and retain its educator workforce. In the last 10 years, California has invested over $1 billion in teacher workforce development: more than $500 million in a teacher scholarship program; more than $600 million for teacher residency programs; and $250 million to develop, recruit, and retain National Board Certified teachers in high-need schools.

Teacher Residency Programs

Bolstered by the state’s investment, teacher residency is becoming an increasingly popular pathway in California. More than 5,000 candidates have enrolled in residency programs in the past 3 years, a significant portion of whom have been supported by state teacher residency grant funds and broader investments in teacher scholarships, such as Golden State Teacher Grants, which provide $10,000–$20,000 awards to teachers who commit to serving in high-need schools. This grant program has helped to fund preparation for more than 22,000 candidates over the past 3 years.

Dr. Mary Vixie Sandy, Executive Director of California’s Commission on Teacher Credentialing, noted, “We get the best outcomes with residency programs in California in terms of hiring, retention, and a diverse workforce across any of the other pathways.” 

Sandy also shared that 90% of graduates of residency programs are hired by the districts where they trained, and 85% are retained after 3 years —significantly higher than other pathways. Other California analyses have found that the state’s residency-trained teachers are more racially and ethnically diverse, feel better prepared to teach, are viewed by supervisors as very well prepared, pass the state teacher performance assessment at higher rates, and enter and stay in the workforce at higher rates.

Mississippi: Financial Incentives and Competitive Compensation

Mississippi has historically ranked low in teacher salaries, particularly in rural areas, making recruitment and retention difficult. However, the state’s strategic actions and policy efforts have led to progress.

Competitive Compensation

In 2022, with a goal to make teaching a more attractive and sustainable career choice, particularly in economically disadvantaged rural areas, Mississippi implemented a historic salary increase, giving teachers an average 12% raise. Since the salary increase, the state has seen a 20% rise in education preparation program enrollment.

Mississippi State Representative Kent McCarty shared, “We wanted to invest the money, but we wanted to invest it in a way that reimagined how we compensate teachers. It was important that we boosted on the front end but also kept those increases throughout the teacher’s career.”

Looking to keep experienced teachers in the profession, Mississippi implemented a National Board Certification Incentive, providing an additional $6,000 annual salary supplement for certified teachers. In addition to that, educators in high-need areas receive an extra $4,000 per year.

Loan Repayment Programs

Mississippi invested in a student loan repayment program, the Winter-Reed Teacher Loan Repayment Program, through which, over 3 years, the state repays student loans for any new teacher entering the teacher workforce. Teachers in critical-need areas received substantially more repayment assistance. The program’s success led to the state investing more funding and expanding the program to include existing teachers.

The Mississippi Teacher Residency Program

The Mississippi Department of Education initiated the Mississippi Teacher Residency program to boost the recruitment and retention of teachers in special education. The program provides a full scholarship to all residents who, upon program completion, receive a master’s degree in Elementary and Special Education and commit to teaching in an underrepresented area for at least 2 years. Initially funded by the Kellogg Foundation, the program received ESSER funding from the state legislature when the original funding ran out. The legislature is now exploring potential funding through an annual appropriation.

New York: Supporting Teachers and Diversifying the Workforce  

New York has seen higher teacher turnover rates since the pandemic—22% for teachers with less than 5 years of experience and 14% overall—and a growing reliance on long-term substitutes. Alexander Trikalinos, Assistant Commissioner for the Office of Teacher and Leader Development in the New York State Education Department, shared, “We are trying to address both of those challenges at the same time—helping folks who are in the profession stay, but also encouraging our K–12 and college-age students, as well as adults who might be interested in making a career change, to see teaching as a desirable career.” The state has invested in several innovative programs.

New Teacher Mentoring and Support

Knowing how important new teacher supports are for retention and early career educator effectiveness, the state invests heavily in mentoring programs. In their professional development plans, districts are required to include a well-developed mentoring program for first-year teachers and school leaders with their local needs in mind. The state’s professional standards and practices board created a set of tools and resources, including a set of standards for mentoring programs, to support districts.

Additionally, the legislature allocates $2 million annually for the Mentor Teacher Internship Program, a competitive grant providing supplementary 5-year funding to districts for implementing rigorous mentorship structures. Schools that receive the grant must follow best practices, including structured mentor selection, comprehensive mentor training, and dedicated time for mentoring activities, and evaluate their program’s effectiveness using quantitative and qualitative data.

Investment in Experienced Teachers

The New York State Master Teacher Program, initially launched in 2013 to build and inspire K–12 STEM teachers, provides experienced educators with peer mentoring and subject-specific professional development. In 2022, Governor Kathy Hochul expanded the program to create a cohort of counselors and to encourage more teachers with Career Technical Education certificates related to STEM careers to participate.

To further support educators, the Albert Shanker Grant Program helps teachers cover National Board Certification costs and assists districts in covering leave time and providing substitute teachers for teachers when they are pursuing certification.

Building and Diversifying the Teacher Workforce

New York is also committed to investing in high-need fields and locations as well as increasing educator diversity through a range of innovative programs, including:

• Teacher Opportunity Corps. The program enhances teacher preparation in addressing the learning needs of students at risk of truancy, academic failure, or dropping out of school, while also aiming to draw historically underrepresented and economically disadvantaged individuals into teaching careers.

• Teachers of Tomorrow. A larger-scale program ($20 million to $25 million appropriated annually) provides various incentives that encourage prospective teachers to teach in a school district experiencing a teacher shortage or subject-area shortage.

• Grow Your Own Pathways. The state has various job-embedded pathways designed around the idea of making teaching more accessible and affordable, especially for underrepresented populations.

Texas: Addressing Certification Gaps Through Residencies

Texas has experienced severe teacher shortages for more than a decade, largely driven by teacher attrition. In response, districts have been hiring increasing numbers of teachers through alternative certification routes—some requiring minimal or no preservice teaching practice. The hiring of uncertified teachers also has risen sharply, with around half of the state’s new-to-the-profession teachers hired for the 2024–25 school year having no certification. These underqualified and underprepared teachers leave the profession at higher rates, undermining student learning and exacerbating teacher shortages.

A Multi-Pronged Strategy Including Teacher Residencies

In 2022, Governor Greg Abbott launched the Teacher Vacancy Task Force (TVTF) to examine teacher retention and recruitment challenges across the state and develop recommendations for regulatory or other policy changes for the Texas Education Agency, the Texas legislature, and local school systems.

The TVTF developed recommendations focused on the key areas of teacher compensation, training and support, and working conditions. Within training and support, the task force recommended establishing and funding a teacher residency pathway, building on Texas’s investment of nearly $100 million of federal ESSER funds into expanding teacher residency programs.

The Texas Education Agency worked with the legislature to provide additional state funding to replace ESSER funds and continue scaling residency programs across the state, with a substantial focus on technical assistance to help participating districts sustainably fund residency stipends through the reallocation of people, time, and resources. These strategies included residents spending approximately 1 day per week serving as a substitute teacher, tutor, or aide in addition to spending the majority of their time coteaching under the supervision of a quality mentor teacher.

Texas now has 37 educator preparation programs across the state that meet state standards for providing high-quality paid residency programs. Kelvey Oeser, Deputy Commissioner of Educator and System Support at the Texas Education Agency, highlighted why Texas’s policy design placed such an emphasis on technical assistance:

"We knew that in order for these programs to be sustainable over time, districts also needed to be seeking strategies to shift their staffing structures to make sure both the residents were having meaningful teaching experiences and classrooms, but also that there could be sustainable funding for residency programs."

This effort has paid off, with more than 80% of Texas school districts with residency programs currently funding the programs with local funds. The state’s investment in teacher residencies is making a difference for student learning, with recent Texas research finding that students of teachers prepared through a residency show, on average, 2.5–3 additional months of learning in math and reading compared to students of an average new teacher.

Key Takeaways for State Education Leaders and Policymakers

The teacher shortage crisis requires a multifaceted approach; other states’ approaches provide valuable insights. State policymakers and system leaders are encouraged to invest in long-term solutions. Successful strategies include:

1. Salary Increases. Many states have recognized that competitive compensation is essential for attracting and retaining teachers. Mississippi’s substantial teacher pay raise has already resulted in higher teacher preparation program enrollment.

2. Mentorship and New Teacher Support. Structured support for early-career teachers has been shown to improve retention and job satisfaction. New York’s annual investment in structured mentoring has led to higher retention rates and improved teacher satisfaction.

3. Targeted Financial Incentives. Programs that alleviate student debt in exchange for service commitments have proven successful in high-need areas. Service scholarships in California and loan forgiveness and salary supplements in Mississippi and New York have helped retain experienced teachers in high-need areas.

4. Teacher residencies. Teacher residency programs in California, Mississippi, and Texas provide candidates with financial support during their training, a full academic year of working with an expert teacher before becoming the teacher of record, and induction and mentoring support the following year. Research has found that well-designed residencies support teacher preparedness, effectiveness, and retention.