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National Center for Education Statistics

Public State and Local Education Job Openings, Hires, and Separations for December 2021

The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS),1 conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), provides monthly estimates of job openings, hires, and total separations (quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations) for major industry sectors, including education. BLS JOLTS data and other survey data can be used to track the recovery of the labor market since the spring of 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic resulted in job losses on a scale not seen since the Great Depression.2

This analysis is the first in a of series of analyses of the public state and local education industry3 during the 2021–22 school year. This industry includes all persons employed by public elementary and secondary school systems and postsecondary institutions, including a variety of occupations, such as teachers and instructional aides, administrators and other professional staff, support staff, maintenance personnel, cafeteria workers, and transportation workers.4 The JOLTS data are tabulated at this sector level and do not permit separate detailed analyses at the elementary and secondary level or at the postsecondary level. To put the scope of this group in context, 48 percent of the staff employed by public elementary and secondary school systems were teachers, and 37 percent of full-time-equivalent (FTE) postsecondary staff within public degree-granting institutions were instructional faculty in 2019.5

This snapshot is focused on the December 2021 reporting period. To provide context for this period, estimates will be compared with the previous month’s estimates, as well as with December 2019 (before the pandemic) and December 2020. Subsequent analysis will review the cumulative change from July 2021 through June 2022.

Overview of December 2021 Estimates

The number of job openings in public state and local education was 320,000 on the last business day of December 2021, which was higher than in December 2019 or December 2020 (table 1). In percentage terms, 2.9 percent of jobs had openings in December 2021, which was higher than 2.0 percent in December 2019 and 1.9 percent in December 2020. This suggests a greater need for public state and local education employees in December 2021 than in December 2019 or December 2020. Additionally, the number of separations6 (126,000) in December 2021 exceeded the total number of hires (91,000), indicating a net decrease in the number of public state and local education employees from the number in the month before. The number of job openings at the end of December 2021 (320,000) was 3.5 times larger than the number of staff actually hired that month (91,000). This December 2021 ratio of openings to hires was higher than the ratio in December 2020 (2.9) and the ratio in December 2019 (2.6).

Hiring in the education sector happens on a cyclical basis with the academic calendar, meaning that patterns will differ between months.7 November 2021 data are also provided in table 1 to provide a sense of the month-to-month change in employment data. In November 2021, the number of job openings outpaced the number of hires by a margin of 167,000 positions, representing a ratio of job openings to hires of 2.3. 


Table 1. Public state and local education job openings, hires, and separations: 2019, 2020, and 2021

Table showing public state and local education job openings, hires, and separations (layoffs and discharges, other separations, and quits)in 2019, 2020, and 2021

---Not available.
NOTE: Data are not seasonally adjusted. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), 2019, 2020, and 2021, based on data downloaded March 15, 2022.


Net Change in Employment

JOLTS data show the relationships of hires and separations throughout business cycles. Net employment changes result from the relationship between hires and separations. When the number of hires exceeds the number of separations, employment rises—even if the number of hires is steady or declining. Conversely, when the number of hires is less than the number of separations, employment declines—even if the number of hires is steady or rising. During the 2021 calendar year, hires for state and local education totaled 2,075,000. The number of separations was estimated at 1,622,000 (including 1,009,000 quits). Taken together, the public state and local education sector in 2021 experienced a net employment gain of 453,000. In contrast, there was a net employment loss of 787,000 in 2020, resulting from 1,647,000 hires and 2,434,000 separations. These totals include workers who may have been hired and separated more than once during the year. Annual net gains and losses indicate the importance of being able to consider multiple years of data when studying the overall staffing situation in our education system. The net employment gain in 2021 does not erase the larger net loss experienced in 2020.

Figure 1 shows the cyclical nature of state and local government education employee job openings, hires, and separations. The percentages in the figure reflect the number of job openings, hires, and separations during the month relative to the total employment in the state and local government education industry. In general, separations and hiring are higher in the summer and lower in the winter. Both trends reflect the school fiscal year (July through June).


Figure 1. Monthly percentage of job openings, hires, and separations for the state and local government education industry: January 2019 to December 2021

Line graph showing monthly percentage of job openings, hires, and separations for the state and local government education industry in January, June, and December 2019, June and December 2020, and June and December 2021

NOTE: Data are not seasonally adjusted.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), 2019, 2020, and 2021, based on data downloaded March 15, 2022.


Public State and Local Education Job Openings

Figure 2 shows the job openings in December 2021 compared with those in December 2019 and December 2020 across different industries. Overall, the total nonfarm job opening rate was 6.4 percent in December 2021, which was an increase of 2.3 percentage points over the rate in December 2020. The percentage of public state and local education sector jobs with openings was 2.9 percent (320,000) in December 2021, which was higher than the 2.0 percent (220,000) in December 2019 or 1.9 percent (194,000) in December 2020. The percentage of public state and local education sector job openings in December 2021 was not measurably different from the percentage in November 2021.


Figure 2. Rate of job openings, by major industry: December 2019, December 2020, and December 2021

Scatter plot showing rate of job openings, by major industry, in December 2019, December 2020, and December 2021

NOTE: Data are not seasonally adjusted.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), 2019, 2020, and 2021, based on data downloaded March 17, 2022.


Public State and Local Education Hires

Figure 3 shows hires across major industries as a percentage of total employment. Overall, the total nonfarm hire rate was 3.2 percent in December 2021, which was 0.3 percentage points higher than the rate in December 2020. The percentage of public state and local education sector hires was 0.9 percent (91,000) in December 2021, which was not measurably different from the number or rate in either December 2019 or December 2020. The percentage of public state and local education sector hires in December 2021 was lower than the 1.2 percent in November 2021 (133,000).

The gaps between hires and job openings in the public education sector were larger in December 2021 than in 2019 or 2020, due to a larger number of openings in December 2021. In December 2021, the gap between the rates of job openings and hires in education was 2.0 percentage points, compared with 1.2 in both December 2019 and December 2020.


Figure 3. Rate of hires, by major industry: December 2019, December 2020, and December 2021

Scatter plot showing rate of hires, by major industry, in December 2019, December 2020, and December 2021

NOTE: Data are not seasonally adjusted.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), 2019, 2020, and 2021, based on data downloaded March 17, 2022.


Public State and Local Education Total Separations

Total separations include quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations. Quits are generally voluntary separations initiated by the employee. Therefore, the quit rate can serve as a measure of workers’ willingness or ability to leave jobs. Layoffs and discharges are involuntary separations initiated by the employer. The other separations category includes separations due to retirement, death, disability, and transfers to other locations of the same firm.

Total separations for the public state and local education industry were 126,000, or 1.2 percent, in December 2021 (figure 4). Quits accounted for 59 percent of all separations for state and local education employees in December 2021. The quit rate was 0.7 percent for December 2021, which was about 0.2 percentage points higher than in December 2020, but not measurably different from the rate in December 2019. Quit rates for public state and local education employees were consistently lower than for private sector employees.8 For example, in December 2021 the total private sector quit rate was 2.8 percent.


Figure 4. Rate of total separations, by major industry: December 2019, December 2020, and December 2021

Scatter plot showing rate of total separations, by major industry, in December 2019, December 2020, and December 2021

NOTE: Data are not seasonally adjusted.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), 2019, 2020, and 2021, based on data downloaded March 17, 2022.


Taken together, the data show that in recent years there generally have been fewer separations in the public education industry compared with other industries. The December 2021 separation rate for state and local education employees of 1.2 percent was higher than the November 2021 separation rate of 0.9 percent. Nevertheless, the separation rate for the state and local education industry was lower than for all other industries in December 2021.

At 2.9 percent, state and local education had the lowest percentage of jobs with openings in December 2021. However, that does not mean that staffing shortages were not a factor in the state and local education industry (figure 5). The ratio of job openings to hires for state and local education (3.5) in December 2021 is well above the average for all industries (2.1), indicating a high demand for employees in this industry and relative difficulty of filling available slots. The only industries with higher openings-to-hires ratios were the federal government (3.9) and state and local government, excluding education (5.6). Thus, while the openings-to-hires ratio was relatively higher for the state and local education industry, it was lower than the ratio for the federal government and for state and local government, excluding education.


Figure 5. Ratio of job openings to hires, by major industry: December 2021

Horizontal bar chart showing ratio of job openings to hires, by major industry, in December 2021

NOTE: Data are not seasonally adjusted.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), 2021, based on data downloaded March 17, 2022.


To understand the cumulative status of the employment situation at the end of the school year, we intend to provide an update of our analyses as these data become available.

Learn more about JOLTS and access additional data on job openings, hires, and separations. Be sure to follow NCES on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube to stay informed.

 

By Josue DeLaRosa, NCES


[1] For a discussion on the reliability of the estimates, please see Job Openings and Labor Turnover Technical Note - 2022 M01 Results (bls.gov).

[2] U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, “How Did Employment Change During the COVID-19 pandemic? Evidence From a New BLS Survey Supplement,” downloaded March 18, 2022, from https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-11/how-did-employment-change-during-the-covid-19-pandemic.htm; and “As the COVID-19 Pandemic Affects the Nation, Hires and Turnover Reach Record Highs in 2020,” downloaded March 18, 2022, from https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2021/article/as-the-covid-19-pandemic-affects-the-nation-hires-and-turnover-reach-record-highs-in-2020.htm.

[3] JOLTS refers to this industry as state and local government education and uses ID 92.

[4] JOLTS does not collect occupation data.

[5] U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Digest of Education Statistics, table 213.10, downloaded March 30, 2022, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d21/tables/dt21_213.10.asp?current=yes, and table 314.10, downloaded March 30, 2022, from https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d20/tables/dt20_314.10.asp?current=yes.

[6] Separations include all separations from the payroll during the entire reference month and are reported by type of separation: quits, layoffs and discharges, and other separations.

[7] Engel, M. (2012). The Timing of Teacher Hires and Teacher Qualifications: Is There an Association? Teachers College Record, 114(12): 1–29.

[8] The private sector includes all nonfarm employees except federal employment and state and local government employment.                                                           

Recognizing Asian and Pacific Islander Educators with the National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS)

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, which celebrates the achievements of Asian/Pacific Islander Americans and immigrants and the many ways they have contributed to the United States.

In honor of Asian and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander1 educators who help students learn every day, here are some selected facts and figures from the 2017–18 National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS). The NTPS collects data about public and private K–12 schools in the United States from the perspective of the teachers and principals who staff them. These data were collected in 2017–18, prior to the coronavirus pandemic.

 

Composition of U.S. K12 Public and Private Schools: 201718

  • Although Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander teachers and principals are important members of school communities, they comprise a relatively small percentage of public and private school educators overall. Less than 1 percent of either public or private school teachers (0.2 and 0.1 percent,2 respectively) and principals (0.2 percent and 0.3 percent,3 respectively) were Native Hawaiian/Pacific islander.

Figure 1. Percentage distribution of all teachers and principals who are Asian and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, by school type: 201718

! Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.
NOTE: Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), "Public School Teacher and Private School Teacher Data File, Public School Principal and Private School Principal Data File," 2017–18


Community and K12 School Characteristics: 201718

  • A higher percentage of Asian teachers worked in city schools than in most other community types (i.e., suburb, town, and rural) in 2017–18. There were some differences by school type (i.e., public vs. private).4 For example, teacher employment patterns in both school types were similar at rural schools and city schools but different at suburban schools.
  • Higher percentages of Asian teachers worked in both public and private city schools (3.1 and 3.8 percent, respectively) than in public and private rural schools (0.5 and 0.8 percent, respectively) (figure 2).
  • Although a lower percentage of Asian private school teachers worked in suburban schools (2.3 percent) than in city schools (3.8 percent), there was no significant difference in the percentage of Asian public school teachers who worked in suburban versus city schools.

Figure 2. Percentage distribution of all teachers who are Asian and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, by school type and community type: 201718

# Rounds to zero
! Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 and 50 percent.
‡ Reporting standards not met. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is 50 percent or greater (i.e., the standard error is 50 percent or more of the estimate) or the response rate is below 50 percent.
NOTE: Race categories exclude persons of Hispanic ethnicity.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), "Public School Teacher and Private School Teacher Data File," 2017–18


In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, NCES would like to thank Asian and Pacific Islander educators nationwide who play vital roles in our education system.

The data in this blog would not be possible without the participation of teachers, principals, and school staff in the NTPS. We are currently conducting the 2020–21 NTPS to learn more about teaching experiences during the pandemic. If you were contacted about participating in the 2020–21 NTPS and have questions, please email ntps@census.gov or call 1-888-595-1338.

For more information about the National Teacher and Principal Survey (NTPS), please visit https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/ntps/. More findings and details are available in the NTPS schoolteacher, and principal reports.

 

[1] The NTPS definition of “Asian American or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander” is synonymous with the Library of Congress’ term “Asian/Pacific Islander.” The Library of Congress, one of the sponsors of the heritage month, states that Asian/Pacific encompasses all of the Asian continent and the Pacific islands of Melanesia (New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the Solomon Islands), Micronesia (Marianas, Guam, Wake Island, Palau, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia) and Polynesia (New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Rotuma, Midway Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, French Polynesia and Easter Island). Note that the Hawaiian Islands are included as “Pacific islands” in their definition but are named independently in the NTPS definition, and that only Asian or Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander respondents who also indicated that they were not Hispanic, which includes Latino, are included in this definition.

[2] Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 percent and 50 percent (i.e., the standard error is at least 30 percent and less than 50 percent of the estimate).

[3] Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation (CV) for this estimate is between 30 percent and 50 percent (i.e., the standard error is at least 30 percent and less than 50 percent of the estimate).

[4] Given the size of the Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander teacher and principal populations in the NTPS, granular differences about where Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander teachers and principals were more often employed is difficult to produce from a sample survey because of sample sizes.

 

By Julia Merlin, NCES

New International Data Highlight Experiences of Teachers and Principals

The Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) 2018 surveyed lower secondary teachers and principals in the United States and 48 other education systems (in the United States, lower secondary is equivalent to grades 7–9). Following the release of volume 1 of the TALIS 2018 U.S. highlights web report in 2019, volume 2 provides new data comparing teachers’ and principals’ opinions about job satisfaction, stress, salary, and autonomy.

According to the survey results, nearly a quarter of U.S. lower secondary teachers (26 percent) reported they had “a lot” of stress in their work. This was higher than the average across countries participating in TALIS (16 percent) (figure 1). The U.S. percentage was higher than the percentage in 35 education systems, lower than the percentage in 3 education systems, and not measurably different from the percentage in 10 education systems. Across educations systems, the percentage of teachers who reported experiencing “a lot” of stress in their work ranged from 1 percent in the country of Georgia to 38 percent in England (see figure 8T in the TALIS 2018 U.S. highlights web report, volume 2).


Figure 1. Percentage of lower secondary teachers in the United States and across TALIS education systems reporting that they experience “a lot” of stress in their work: 2018


Less than half of U.S. lower secondary teachers (41 percent) “agree” or “strongly agree” that they are satisfied with their salary, which was not measurably different from the TALIS average (39 percent) (figure 2). The U.S. percentage was higher than the percentage in 22 education systems, lower than the percentage in 17 education systems, and not measurably different from the percentage in 9 education systems. The percentage of teachers who “agree” or “strongly agree” that they are satisfied with their salary ranged widely across education systems, from 6 percent in Iceland to 76 percent in Alberta–Canada (see figure 10T in the TALIS 2018 U.S. highlights web report, volume 2).

About half of U.S. lower secondary principals (56 percent) “agree” or “strongly agree” that they are satisfied with their salary, which was not measurably different from the TALIS average (47 percent) (figure 2). The U.S. percentage was higher than the percentage in 15 education systems, lower than the percentage in 3 education systems, and not measurably different from the percentage in 29 education systems. As with teachers, the percentage of principals who “agree” or “strongly agree” that they are satisfied with their salary ranged widely across education systems, from 17 percent in Italy to 86 percent in Singapore (see figure 10P in the TALIS U.S. highlights web report, volume 2).


Figure 2. Percentage of lower secondary teachers and principals in the United States and across TALIS education systems who “agree” or “strongly agree” that they are satisfied with the salary they receive for their work: 2018


TALIS is conducted in the United States by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) and is sponsored by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization of industrialized countries. Further information about TALIS can be found in the technical notes, questionnaires, list of participating OECD and non-OECD countries, and FAQs for the study. In addition, the two volumes of the OECD international reports are available on the OECD TALIS website.

 

By Tom Snyder, AIR; Ebru Erberber, AIR; and Mary Coleman, NCES