This blog series, Solving Teacher Shortages, highlights innovative and evidence-based initiatives and explores policy options and other approaches to building a strong and stable teacher workforce.
Margo PedersenGian Anthony BaezDesiree Carver-Thomas
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Student achievement improves from having teachers of diverse backgrounds, and while states have made progress in strengthening and diversifying the educator workforce, recent federal actions could affect those efforts. Despite these federal changes, states can implement evidence-based strategies to protect and build their educator pipelines and improve student outcomes.
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States are working to close the teacher shortage gap, but a new wave of federal policy changes is likely to make it harder and more expensive to enter and stay in teaching, threatening to stall state progress when the educator workforce needs it most.
Julie FitzCathy YunVictoria WangJennifer A. BlandWesley WeiSteve Wojcikiewicz
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Paid teacher residencies can help states recruit, prepare, and retain effective, diverse educators. California and Texas have found ways to fund these programs through strategic staffing models, offering a roadmap for other states facing teacher shortages.
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Chronic teacher shortages drain district budgets and shortchange educators and students. But with smart investments and strategies it doesn’t have to stay this way.
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Linda Darling-Hammond and Michael Petrilli discuss why experienced teachers don’t just matter—they keep improving when schools give them the right support. Here’s what policymakers and principals can do to keep great educators in the classroom.
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LPI’s 2025 annual scan of teacher shortage data indicates that little has changed over the past year, with many schools continuing to face staffing challenges. However, with three years of data, there are some national patterns and state takeaways.
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State leaders from California, Mississippi, New York, and Texas joined LPI to discuss their states’ approaches to 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.
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Teacher shortages are widespread, yet layoffs occur annually. This paradox stems from converging factors such as state and local funding decisions, fluctuations in public school enrollment, and the impending expiration of federal ESSER funds.
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Each year, approximately one in six public school teachers across the United States leaves their school or leaves the profession altogether, contributing to teacher shortages and costing districts considerable time, energy, and resources to find and train new teachers. The Learning Policy Institute’s updated calculator can help educational leaders to estimate the cost of teacher turnover.
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Teacher shortages continue to impact schools and districts in all 50 states and Washington, DC, driven in part by financial barriers that prevent candidates from accessing comprehensive preparation. New AmeriCorps rules will potentially unlock a meaningful source of funding for comprehensive preparation programs and the candidates they prepare.
