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U.S. Department of Education

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# Raise the Bar: Eliminate the Educator Shortage

# Raise the Bar: Eliminate the Educator Shortage

                                    -        *Goal: Eliminate the educator shortage for every school by ensuring that schools are appropriately staffed, paying educators competitively, and strengthening pathways into the profession.*Read our Policy Brief on Eliminating Educator Shortages through Increased Compensation, High-Quality and Affordable Educator Preparation and Teacher Leadership Read our Policy Brief on Eliminating Educator Shortages through Increasing Educator Diversity and Addressing High-need Shortage Areas. The Problem:**Raise the Bar One-Pagers**EnglishEspañol
Every student should  have access to outstanding, well-prepared, well-supported educators who reflect  the diversity of the students they serve. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic,  from February to May 2020, the economy lost an estimated 730,000 local public  education jobs—9 percent of all those jobs. 

  There is good news,  though: As a result of the historic investments in the  American Rescue Plan, states and school districts have made significant  progress in eliminating educator shortages and advancing strategies that will  strengthen and diversify our educator pipeline. As a result of these efforts, as of October 2023, there were only 0.17 percent fewer employees in local public education than in October 2019, the last pre-pandemic beginning of a school year. 

  But there is still  work to do. Remaining shortages vary significantly from state to state,  district to district and school to school. Additionally, before the pandemic, schools  were already experiencing shortages, with disproportionate impacts on students  of color, students with disabilities, and English learners.

Our schools still have  a way to go before they are fully staffed with educators who can meet the needs  and reflect the diversity of our nation's students.

The map below reflects the progress of each state in  returning to pre-pandemic staffing levels in local public education employment. A  positive number on the map below indicates that local education employment  exceeds its pre-pandemic level in that state, while a negative number reflects  how depleted local education employment is relative to the pre-pandemic period. As a 12-month moving average is used for state data, these estimates lag national employment estimates. Please note that this data reflects all local public education positions filled, including teacher, school leaders, and other school- and district-level staff. The data does not indicate whether teaching positions are filled with educators with emergency, provisional, or full-certification for the area they are assigned to teach.

**Progress Towards Returning to Pre-Pandemic Staffing Levels**(download data as a spreadsheet)

 

For additional information about this  map, and other data visualizations on this page, please see the Department’s Raise the  Bar Policy Brief.
Our Strategies
  The Department is committed to working with  state and local leaders to elevate the teaching profession by investing in and  scaling up high-quality and affordable pathways to teaching. The Department  also is supporting efforts to better prepare, develop, and retain talented and  diverse educators in America’s schools. Robust investments and strategic action  in the areas below represent key policy levers to eliminate educator shortages. 
Stabilize the  Profession:
  The  Department is continuing to support states in using $122 billion in American  Rescue Plan (ARP) Elementary and Secondary School Emergency  Relief (ESSER) funds to  eliminate educator shortages. Independent analysts found that school districts  plan to spend nearly $30 billion in ARP ESSER funds on staffing, including the  recruitment, preparation, training, and retention of teachers.

  In  addition, the Department will continue to make clear how other program funds can be used to  help sustain investments made with ESSER I, ESSER II and ARP ESSER funds.
Improve Teacher  Compensation and Working Conditions:
Increasing teacher compensation is critical to effectively  recruiting and retaining the teachers that schools need. But teachers earn 24  percent less than comparable college graduates, a pay gap that has grown over  time, and that can inhibit people from choosing to become teachers and staying  in the profession. From 1996 to 2021, weekly wages for public school teachers,  adjusted for inflation, increased by only $29, in comparison to an increase of  $445 in professions requiring a college education.

  The map below highlights average teacher starting salaries and top  salaries, according to district salary schedules, as well as average teacher  pay overall in each state, as of the 2021-2022 school year. The salary levels  included in the map only reflect salaries at the time of data collection and do  not include planned changes not yet fully implemented (such as salary increases  phased in over multiple years) or take into account variation in the  cost-of-living from state to state. The map highlights, with a star, the states  that have taken action to increase teacher salaries. 

**Starting, Top, and Average Teacher Compensation, 2021-2022**(download data as a spreadsheet)

 

  The  Department will continue to emphasize the need for teachers to be paid  competitively and use teacher compensation data to encourage states to better  compensate educators.

  The  Department also will make clear how Title I can support investments in educators and  continue to work toward increasing funding for this critical program, building  on the additional $1.9 billion secured since fiscal year 2021. The Department  also will provide technical assistance and oversight in the implementation of  $2.2 billion in Title II formula funding for recruiting,  preparing, and training high-quality teachers, principals, and other school  leaders.
 Promote Career Ladders for Teachers:
  Career advancement and  leadership opportunities that allow teachers to grow professionally and earn  additional compensation while remaining in the classroom can support effective  teacher recruitment, retention, and growth. This includes, for example, distributive  leadership models that support teachers’ leadership alongside their principal  and other school leaders to facilitate positive schoolwide change; teacher-led  instructional improvement efforts focused on specific areas of academic  content; opportunities to shape schoolwide policies and climate and lead  professional learning communities; programs for master teachers who support the  development of other educators, teacher mentorship programs, and job-embedded  content coaching; and the implementation of advisory systems. 

  With the appropriate  supports, such as release time and additional compensation for additional  responsibilities, teacher leadership and advancement can support improved  student outcomes and teacher recruitment and retention. 

  The  Department will continue to highlight the importance of career ladders for  teachers and invest in those efforts, including emphasizing how opportunities  for teachers to lead beyond the classroom improves student learning, working  conditions, and teacher retention.  For example, the Department has  expressed in our budget proposals our desire to build on the Education  Innovation and Research (EIR) program's support of projects that test,  replicate, and scale evidence-based practices for improving educator  recruitment and retention. 
Support  Effective New Teacher Induction and Ongoing Professional Learning:
  To  succeed in the classroom, new teachers need not only high-quality educator  preparation programs with robust clinical experience, they also need effective  induction programs that provide job-embedded professional development and  support. Effective induction and ongoing, high-quality professional learning are  critical to teacher retention and to maximizing the impact of teachers on  student achievement and other positive student outcomes. 

  The  Department will continue to highlight and invest in high-quality professional  learning programs, make clear how program funds can be used, and press for  additional funding for the development of school leaders so they can most  effectively support the growth of their teachers.
Support  High-Quality and Affordable Educator Preparation:
  Expanding access to high-quality and affordable educator  preparation is critical to eliminating educator shortages and providing  students with the high-quality teachers they need to succeed.

  Despite declines in previous years, annual total enrollment in  educator preparation programs increased by 7 percent from 2018-2019 to  2020-2021, an increase of more than 41,000 enrollees.

  However, these changes in enrollment have varied widely by state  and type of program. The chart below shows changes in enrollment during these  periods by state and for enrollment in traditional educator preparation  programs, alternative programs based at an institution of higher education, and  alternative programs not based at an institution of higher education. 

  The size of any change in enrollment should be considered in the  context of individual states’ educator shortages. States with greater pre- and  post-pandemic shortages will have greater needs to increase educator  preparation program enrollment than states with less significant shortages. 

**Educator Preparation Program Enrollment (EPP), AY 2018-2019 to 2020-2021**(download data as a spreadsheet)

 

  The  Department is leveraging key grant programs to support high-quality and  affordable educator preparation. And to continue  increasing the pipeline of teachers entering the profession, the Department is  working to reduce and eliminate barriers to becoming a teacher while upholding  and improving quality. 

  Registered Apprenticeship Programs, for  example, can be an effective, high-quality “earn-and-learn” model that allows  candidates to obtain their teaching credential while earning a salary by  combining coursework with structured, paid on-the-job learning experiences with  a mentor teacher. While at the start of 2022 there were only registered  programs in two states, now states across the country have registered programs. 

**Registered Teacher Apprenticeships for K-12 Teachers 2023**(download data as a spreadsheet)

 

  The  Department of Education is continuing its partnership with the Department of Labor and its work with national education  organizations to expand the use of high-quality registered apprenticeship programs for teachers. 

  Additionally,  the Department of Education will continue to advance proposed regulations to  make income-driven student loan repayment more affordable than ever, which will  help reduce student loan debt for teachers.

  The  Department also addressed challenges with Public Service Loan Forgiveness, helping public servants, including  educators, receive billions in immediate debt relief. Additionally, the  Department addressed previous challenges with incorrect grant-to-loan  conversions for TEACH Grants, making it easier for teachers to  successfully participate in this program.
 Promote  Educator Diversity: 
  Increasing the diversity of our educator  workforce is critical to supporting the academic success of all students.  Studies suggest that all students, and particularly students of color, benefit  from having teachers of color. For students of color, exposure to teachers of  their race or ethnicity can increase academic achievement, attendance, high  school graduation rates, and college enrollment. Unfortunately, while more than  50 percent of public school students are students of color, only roughly 20  percent of teachers are teachers of color. 

To increase educator diversity, the  Department has included priorities in its budget focused on educator diversity  in numerous grant programs. We will continue to use a range of federal grant  programs to support teacher diversity throughout our efforts to recruit,  develop, and retain teachers.   
 Sampling of ARP  Funding Highlights:
  Districts are estimated  to spend $30 billion of their American Rescue Plan (ARP) Elementary and  Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds on staffing, investing in  teacher recruitment, development, hiring, and retention efforts. With the  support of ARP funds:
- Missouri and Maryland are       creating Grow-Your-Own programs to hire additional, high-quality teachers.       Maryland's program may train and support more than 300 new teachers and       100 new paraprofessionals and help more than 400 conditionally certified       teachers pass licensure exams, while building sustainable pipelines.
- Mississippi is funding a       teacher residency program. The state also partners with local school       districts and five university partners to grow its teaching ranks.
- The Nevada Department of       Education created the "Incentivizing Pathways to Teaching" Grant       Program to grow Nevada's educator workforce.
- Iowa is investing in the       establishment of registered apprenticeship programs for teachers in 19       school districts across the state.
Grants and  Resources:
***Grants***
- More than $2 billion in federal funds through the  Supporting Effective Instruction State       Grants  (Title II, Part A) are       being put to use to address inequities in access to effective teachers for       underserved students, provide professional development, reduce class       sizes, improve teacher recruitment and preparation, increase the diversity       of the teacher workforce, and a range of other activities.
- To increase the number of highly effective educators,       the Department is investing $90 million to support the implementation of       evidence-based practices that prepare, develop, or enhance the skills of       educators through the  Supporting Effective Educator Development  program. 
- More than $170 million in new awards and continuation       grants for the  Teacher and School Leader Incentive  program are supporting high-needs schools to       provide career advancement opportunities for effective teachers,       principals, and other school leaders and to improve the process for       recruiting, selecting, supporting, and retaining effective teachers and       school leaders.
- To better prepare and support our special education       teachers, the Department is providing $115 million for IDEA Part D grants       through new and continuation grants for the  Personnel Preparation  program.
- The Department also is investing $70 million in       high-quality teacher preparation programs, such as residencies and       grow-your-own programs by awarding up to 20 additional grants for       the  Teacher Quality Partnership  program.
-  $15 million through the  Augustus F. Hawkins Centers of Excellence  will help to increase the number of diverse and       talented teachers by funding programs at Historically Black Colleges and       Universities, Minority Serving Institutions, and Tribal Colleges and       Universities.
- The Department also is       providing additional resources to support teacher recruitment and       retention through the  Education Innovation and Research  program.

***Resources***
- To capture the ways in which       the Department is working to support educators and eliminate the educator       shortage at every school, the agency released a  one-pager  ( en Español ).
- The Department released a  Dear Colleague Letter  and  factsheet  encouraging states and districts to use ARP funds       to address labor shortages, highlighting evidence-based strategies; and       U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and former U.S. Secretary of       Labor Marty Walsh issued a  joint letter  calling on states to address the educator       shortage by strengthening pathways into the teaching profession, including       through the use of high-quality paid  Registered Apprenticeship programs for teaching , and to ensure teachers are paid a livable and competitive       wage.
- The Department's       factsheet,  Sustaining Investments in Teachers Beyond       the American Rescue Plan ,       highlights additional federal resources available to sustain ARP       investments in key strategies that attract, prepare, support, and retain a       diverse teacher workforce and address teacher shortages for the long-term.
- The Department's  Dear Colleague Letter  and companion fact sheet underscores that Perkins       funds can be used to improve the recruitment and preparation of future       educators, including career and technical education (CTE) teachers.
- The Department issued a  FAQ resource  on using ESSER and GEER funds for student transportation, including for       addressing shortages of bus drivers. 
- And the Department continues to       work with the  Regional Education Laboratories  and  Comprehensive Center Network  to provide technical assistance   to       support states and districts in addressing teacher shortages, including by       improving retention. 
- The Department is partnering       with outside organizations to address educator shortages and has announced       new private- and nonprofit-sector actions making it easier for Americans       to find job opportunities in the education field, supporting school       districts in competing for talent in the current tight labor market, and       addressing the educator shortage in critical subjects, such as science,       technology, engineering, and math (STEM). 

***Financial Aid Resources***
- Under the  Public       Service Loan Forgiveness  (PSLF) program, after a borrower has made 10       years of qualifying monthly payments while working for a qualifying       employer, the remaining balance on a Direct Loan is forgiven. ​Full-time       elementary and secondary school teachers and others working in public or       private nonprofit schools meet the employment eligibility requirements of       PSLF.
- An  income-driven       repayment plan  sets your monthly student loan payment at an amount       that is intended to be affordable based on your income and family size.       Depending on your income and family size, you may have no monthly payment       at all.
- TEACH       Grants  provide up to $4,000 per year to undergraduate and graduate       students who are completing or plan to complete coursework needed to       become a teacher and commit to teaching in a high-need area.
- The  Teacher       Loan Forgiveness  program forgives up to $17,500 of Direct or Federal       Stafford Loans after five complete and consecutive years of teaching at a       qualifying school.
- Perkins       Loan Cancellation  for teachers forgives up to 100% of your Federal Perkins       Loans if you teach full-time at a school serving  a high population of students from low-income backgrounds, or if you teach       certain subjects.
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