社区黑料

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 社区黑料 Newsletter

As another school year ends, superintendents across the United States are staring down an autumn staffing crisis, with 1 in 8 teaching positions either vacant or filled by an underqualified educator.

States that are struggling with post-pandemic teacher shortages have spent millions to lure replacements and retain veterans with hiring bonuses and bumps in salaries. But hiring gaps remain, so some states also are trying another tactic: changing their standards.

The changes in teacher training and licensing come amid widespread turmoil in public schools: Tax revenue is being siphoned toward private school vouchers in many states; some classrooms are being scrutinized for banned books, displays or teaching lessons that trip into diversity, equity and inclusion territory; and students who went through pandemic-era shutdowns are struggling both with sitting still and with learning the material.

Some surveys show that fewer than a fifth of teachers are happy in their jobs.

鈥淭eaching is not seen as an attractive profession right now,鈥� said Drew Gitomer, an expert on teaching assessment at Rutgers Graduate School of Education.

鈥淐OVID exacerbated things, and teachers are caught in the middle of political battles 鈥� over curriculum, book bans, even personal attacks,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a healthy work environment, and that drives people away.鈥�

Last year, Illinois allowing teacher candidates to begin student teaching before passing content-area exams. It was an effort to reduce barriers for underrepresented groups, the measure鈥檚 sponsor said.

A bill under consideration this year over whether to factor pupils鈥� test scores into teacher evaluations, a break from a 15-year-old mandate.

In New Jersey, a formally removes the Praxis Core exam 鈥� traditionally used as an entry-level screening tool for aspiring teachers 鈥� from certification requirements.

And in Nevada 鈥� one of the states hit hardest by teacher shortages 鈥� a bill would for incoming educators. The bill would allow teachers credentialed in other states to begin working in Nevada classrooms while awaiting formal approval.

It also would remove extra steps for teachers switching grade levels and would waive application fees for recent substitute teachers.

Linda Darling-Hammond, founding president and chief knowledge officer of the Learning Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, said teacher shortages hit hardest in schools serving low-income students and students of color, where instability often leads to larger class sizes, canceled courses or a revolving door of substitute teachers.

鈥淲hen you walk into a school facing shortages, you see instability,鈥� she said. 鈥淪tudents may be taught by people who don鈥檛 know what to do, who leave quickly, and who often rely more on discipline than engagement.鈥�

The root cause? Teacher attrition.

鈥淣ine out of 10 vacancies every year are because of attrition 鈥� and two-thirds of that is not retirement,鈥� Darling-Hammond said. 鈥淪upport in the beginning matters. Teachers who come in and get a mentor stay longer. If you鈥檙e just thrown in to sink or swim, the odds of leaving are much greater.鈥�

States have long struggled to attract teachers, and credentialing changes aren鈥檛 unusual. But some education advocates fear long-term repercussions.

Melissa Tooley, director of K-12 educator quality at the left-leaning think tank New America, said most states now offer alternative and fast-track teacher certification pathways, many of which allow candidates to start teaching with little or no pedagogical training in how to teach.

鈥淲e鈥檙e churning through people who might have potential, but we鈥檙e not setting them up for success,鈥� she said. 鈥淎 lot of what states are doing is short term. It鈥檚 about filling seats, not necessarily building a sustainable or high-quality workforce.鈥�

More than 40 states require aspiring teachers to take the costly Praxis Subject test for the subject they want to teach, which some experts argue excludes strong candidates and duplicates other assessments.

鈥淵ou were excluding people who might be good teachers but didn鈥檛 do well on that specific test,鈥� said Rutgers鈥� Gitomer, who has researched the test鈥檚 effects on recruitment.

However, he added, dropping tests doesn鈥檛 necessarily help.

Several states 鈥� , , , and 鈥� have dropped a licensure requirement known as edTPA since 2022, but there鈥檚 little evidence the move has helped ease teacher shortages, Gitomer said. (The acronym stands for Educative Teacher Performance Assessment and involves a portfolio that includes testing and videos of classroom performance.)

鈥淭he state eliminated edTPA but didn鈥檛 replace it with a specific alternative,鈥� he said.

鈥淚nstead, it gave full discretion back to individual institutions to develop or adopt their own performance assessments,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hen we talked to institutions, it became pretty clear they didn鈥檛 think removing edTPA would be a major driver in addressing the shortage 鈥� and they haven鈥檛 seen evidence that it has been.鈥�

How best to credential

Tooley said state credentialing systems must navigate a delicate balance: ensuring there are enough teachers, maintaining instructional quality and increasing workforce diversity.

鈥淭here鈥檚 this triangle 鈥� three pieces that need to be in place 鈥� and I think there are real tensions when it comes to how states are designing their certification policies,鈥� she said.

And Gitomer described a fragmented national landscape, where some states are tightening teacher entry standards while others are dramatically loosening them 鈥� even allowing non-degreed individuals to teach.

鈥淪ome states are trying to raise standards; others are relaxing them to the point where you may not even need a college degree,鈥� he said.

Indiana now all pre-K through grade 6 and special education teachers to complete 80 hours of training on the 鈥渟cience of reading,鈥� a method that includes phonics, and pass an exam by 2027. State Sen. Jean Leising, a Republican, has cutting the requirement in half, calling it 鈥渁n excessive burden with little actual benefit鈥� in a news release.

In Texas, a bill aims by the 2029-30 school year. The legislation would set a gradual cap on the percentage of uncertified teachers districts can employ in core curriculum classes 鈥� starting at 20% in 2026-27 and decreasing to 5% in 2029-30.

According to the Texas Education Agency,lacked a state teaching certificate or permit.

Yet some states stand out for how they鈥檙e changing their requirements, Tooley said.

She pointed to Washington, which has designed a encouraging paraprofessionals, often known as teacher鈥檚 aides, to become classroom teachers. Also known as paraeducators, they鈥檙e a group with classroom experience, community ties and higher retention likelihood.

There, school districts are required to offer foundational training 鈥� ranging from 14 to 28 hours 鈥� directly to paraeducators.

In West Virginia, a new law now allows districts to count full-time working in one or two classrooms toward meeting the required number of aides or paraprofessionals in K-3 classrooms.

Tooley noted that and are experimenting with 鈥渕enu-style鈥� licensing flexibility 鈥� allowing candidates to demonstrate qualification through various combinations of GPA and test scores, rather than rigid cutoffs.

鈥淭hese are people already in schools, often from the same cultural or linguistic backgrounds as students,鈥� Tooley said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e more likely to succeed and to stay.鈥�

Low pay

A 2024 by the EdWeek Research Center found that public school teachers are increasingly reporting declines in mental health, job satisfaction and classroom stability. Seventy percent of teachers recommended student mental health interventions, and nearly half said schools lack enough counselors, psychologists and social workers.

As mental well-being has worsened, the share of public school teachers who are very satisfied with their jobs has also declined by 2 percentage points from the previous year, to 18%, according to the , which was conducted by the EdWeek Research Center on behalf of Merrimack College.

While teacher wellness supports remain limited, educators say improvements in pay and student discipline are the most needed changes.

To entice passionate but burned out educators from leaving the workforce, several states have raised minimum teacher pay. Arkansas , and South Carolina this year, giving it a boost to $48,500 next school year. South Dakota enacted a $45,000 minimum with yearly increases, and penalties . Connecticut advanced a bill setting a $63,450 salary floor, while and others are eyeing further increases.

At the federal level, the 聽seeks to establish a national $60,000 minimum salary for teachers at a qualifying school to boost recruitment and retention across the country. The bill, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Frederica Wilson, a Florida Democrat, remains in committee.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Scott S. Greenberger for questions: [email protected].

Did you use this article in your work?

We鈥檇 love to hear how 社区黑料鈥檚 reporting is helping educators, researchers, and policymakers.