Public School Leaders Reports Suggest No Overall Change in the Number of Teaching Positions Since Last School Year

WASHINGTON (December 12, 2024) — The most recent School Pulse Panel (SPP) data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the statistical center within the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, show that, when compared to last school year (2023-24), 31 percent of public schools reported losing teaching position(s) and 27 percent reported adding new teaching position(s). The average difference in total number of teaching positions compared to last school year, accounting for both positions lost and positions added, rounds to zero. In addition, 50 percent of public school leaders reported feeling that their school is understaffed at their current staffing level. Also, compared to the 2021–22 school year, educators estimated that a lower percentage of students were behind grade level in at least one academic subject when starting the 2024–25 school year.

Public schools that lost teaching positions reported the reasons for losing teaching positions included decreased enrollment (55 percent) and loss of funding or budget cuts (52 percent). Public schools that added teaching positions reported the reasons for adding new teaching positions included increased enrollment (60 percent) and addition of new classes or courses (27 percent).

“Meeting the staffing needs, particularly in filling special education teacher vacancies, continues to be a challenge for schools,” said NCES Commissioner Peggy Carr. “The percentage of schools feeling understaffed has risen to 50 percent, up from 45 percent in 2023. With changes in enrollment and budgets, policymakers and practitioners alike are navigating multiple competing priorities as they address these staffing challenges.”

Nationally, 3 percent of all public school teaching positions were vacant as of October 2024, which was not measurably different from the percentage reported in October 2023. This year, 35 percent of public schools reported that they had at least 1 teacher vacancy as of October, compared to last year’s 37 percent reporting at least 1 vacancy. The 35 percent includes 20 percent of public schools that were operating with multiple vacancies and 15 percent that were operating with one vacancy. Around a third of school leaders indicated they feel understaffed in special education, at 34 percent.

Six percent of all public school non-teaching staff positions were vacant as of October 2024, which was not measurably different from the percentage reported in October 2023. For non-teaching positions, among those specific types of positions asked about, classroom aides and transportation staff had reported average vacancy rates of 7 percent. Forty-one percent of public schools were operating with at least one non-teaching staff vacancy, lower than the 45 percent reported in October 2023.

According to some leaders in schools with at least 1 teaching or non-teaching staff vacancy, these vacancies have resulted in an increased need to use teacher or non-teaching staff to handle tasks outside of their intended duties, 42 and 43 percent, respectively. Twenty-nine percent reported class sizes increased as a result of the vacancies, and 22 percent reported needing to share teachers and staff with other schools.

Additionally, school leaders estimated that 40 percent of students were behind grade level in at least one academic subject when they started this school year, a 5 percent decrease since the 2021–22 school year. Most schools reported that at least some students were behind in math and English language arts, at 98 percent each.

The findings released today are part of an experimental data product from the School Pulse Panel, NCES’s innovative approach to delivering timely information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on public K–12 schools in the United States. The SPP data, collected October 8–22, came from 1,491 participating public K–12 schools from every state and the District of Columbia. The data include information about summer school programs, including programs offered and student participation.

Additional data collected from 98 public K–12 schools in the U.S. Outlying Areas—American Samoa, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and the U.S. Virgin Islands—are also available. Results from this collection include the finding that 82 percent of Outlying Area public schools reported feeling that their school was understaffed as of October.

Experimental data products are innovative statistical tools created using new data sources or methodologies. Experimental data may not meet all of NCES’s quality standards but are of sufficient benefit to data users, in the absence of other relevant products, to justify release. NCES clearly identifies experimental data products upon their release.

All data released today can be found on the School Pulse Panel Dashboard.

Key Findings:

Public School Staffing Vacancies

• When compared to last school year, 31 percent of public schools reported losing teaching position(s) and 27 percent reported adding new teaching position(s). The average difference in total number of teaching positions when compared to last school year (2023-24) rounds to zero.
  • Public schools that lost teaching positions reported the reasons for losing teaching positions included decreased enrollment (55 percent) and loss of funding or budget cuts (52 percent).
  • Public schools that added teaching positions reported the reasons for adding new teaching positions included increased enrollment (60 percent) and addition of new classes or courses (27 percent).
• As of October 2024, 50 percent of public school leaders reported feeling that their school was understaffed, an increase from 45 percent of schools that reported feeling understaffed in August 2023.

• The table below displays the percentages of schools reporting feeling understaffed in specific areas for which they offer positions as of October 2024.

  Area	Percentage of public schools reporting feeling understaffed
  Special Education	34
  Classroom aide	32
  Mental health professional (e.g., psychologist, social worker)	28
  Academic interventionist	24
  General Elementary	22
  English as a Second Language (ESL) or bilingual education	20
  Administrative staff	17
  Mathematics	16
  Career or technical education	15
  Custodial	34
  Tutor	15
  Academic counselor	14
  Instructional coach	14
  English or language arts	13
  Biology or life sciences	12
  Physical sciences (e.g., chemistry, physics, earth sciences)	12
  Foreign languages	9
  Medical professional (e.g., nurse, nurse’s aide)	9
  Music or arts	9
  Nutrition (e.g., food preparation, cafeteria workers)	9
  Social studies	9
  Computer science	8
  Technology specialist	8
  Physical education or health	7

• As of October 2024, on average, U.S. public schools had 3 teaching and non-teaching staff vacancies.
• As of October 2024, 35 percent of public schools reported having one or more teaching vacancies (37 percent were operating with at least one teaching vacancy as of October 2023). This includes 20 percent of public schools that were operating with multiple teaching vacancies as of October 2024.
  • Compared to the national percentage (20 percent), higher percentages of schools with 1,000 or more students (32 percent), with a student body made up of 76 percent or higher students of color (26 percent), and in cities (26 percent) reported operating with multiple teaching vacancies.
  • Compared to the national percentage (20 percent), a lower percentage of schools with a student body made up of less than 25 percent students of color (14 percent) reported operating with multiple teaching vacancies.
• Nationally, 3 percent of all public school teaching positions were vacant as of October 2024 (3 percent of all public school teaching positions were vacant as of October 2023).

• The table below displays the average percentage of vacant teaching positions across public schools as of October 2024, by position, among schools offering that position.

  Subject area	Percentage of vacancies
  Biology or life sciences	5
  Career or technical education	5
  ESL or bilingual education	5
  Foreign languages	5
  Other teaching positions not listed	5
  Physical education or health	5
  Special education	5
  Computer science	4
  Mathematics	4
  Physical sciences	4
  English or language arts	3
  Music or arts	3
  Social studies	3
  General elementary	2

• As of October 2024, 41 percent of public schools were operating with at least 1 non-teaching staff vacancy, which was lower than the 45 percent operating this way in October 2023. This includes 24 percent of public schools operating with multiple non-teaching staff vacancies.
  • Compared to the national percentage (24 percent), a lower percentage of schools with less than 300 students (18 percent) reported operating with multiple non-teaching vacancies.
• Nationally, 6 percent of all public school non-teaching staff positions were vacant as of October 2024 (6 percent of all public school non-teaching positions were vacant as of October 2023).

• The table below displays the average percentage of vacant non-teaching staff positions across public schools as of October 2024 by position, among schools offering that position.

  Non-teaching staff position	Percentage of vacancies
  Classroom aide	7
  Other staff position not listed	7
  Transportation staff	7
  Custodial staff	6
  Tutor	6
  Instructional coaches	5
  Nutrition staff (e.g., food preparation, cafeteria workers)	5
  Academic counselor	4
  Academic interventionist	4
  Mental health professional (e.g., psychologist, social worker)	4
  Medical professional (e.g., nurse, nurse’s aide)	4
  Technology specialist	4
  Administrative staff	3

• School leaders were asked about ways that teaching and non-teaching staff vacancies have impacted their school during the 2024–25 school year. Some of the commonly chose ways among schools with at least one teaching or non-teaching staff vacancy were:
  • Increased need to use non-teaching staff outside of their intended duties (43 percent)
  • Increased need to use teachers outside of their intended duties (42 percent)
  • Increased class sizes (29 percent)
  • Sharing of teachers and/or staff with other schools (22 percent)

Learning Recovery and Tutoring

• Public school leaders estimated that 40 percent of students began the 2024–25 school year behind grade level in at least one academic subject.
  • For the 2024–25 school year, the following types of public schools reported higher percentages of students behind grade level compared to the national average:
    • in high-poverty neighborhoods (52 percent behind grade level)
    • with a student body made up of 76 percent or higher students of color (52 percent behind grade level)
    • in cities (48 percent behind grade level)
    • in schools with less than 300 students (48 percent behind grade level)
    • in the West (46 percent behind grade level)
  • For the 2024–25 school year, the following types of public schools reported lower percentages of students behind grade level compared to the national average:
    • in high/secondary schools (33 percent behind grade level)
    • with a student body made up of 25 percent or lower students of color (30 percent)

• The table below displays public school leaders’ estimates of the percentage of students who began the school year behind grade level in at least one academic subject by school year as estimated in June 2022 (pre-pandemic estimates and 2021–22), December 2022 (2022–23), October 2023 (2023–24), and October 2024 (2024–25).

  Pre-pandemic	2021–22	2022–23	2023–24	2024–25
  32%*	45%*	47%*	42%	40%

  *Statistically significantly different (p < .05) compared to 2024–25.

• Among schools that reported having students who began the school year behind grade level in at least one academic subject, most reported at least some students were behind grade level in math and in English or Language Arts (98 percent each).

• In October 2024, 78 percent of public schools reported having provided some type of tutoring during the school year, and 29 percent reported having provided two or more types of tutoring. The table below displays the percentages of public schools that had provided various types of tutoring to their students as of October 2023 and October 2024.

  	October 2023	October 2024	Significant difference
  Any tutoring	82%	78%	*
  2+ tutoring types	32%	29%
  Type of tutoring
  Standard tutoring	52%	48%	*
  High-dosage tutoring	39%	37%
  Self-paced tutoring	14%	15%
  On-demand online tutoring	8%	8%
  Other tutoring	10%	11%

  *Statistically significantly different (p < .05) compared to October 2024.

• Fifty-one 51 percent of public schools strongly or moderately agreed, and 28 percent strongly or moderately disagreed, that “My school is able to effectively provide ___ tutoring to all students in need,” for all tutoring¹ options available at their school.
• For the 2024–25 school year 46 percent of public schools reported using federal funds to support tutoring,² a lower percentage than reported during the 2023–24 school year (65 percent).
• Twenty-two 22 percent of public schools reported providing no tutoring to students at their school as of October 2024. Reasons for not doing so include:
  • Lack of, or reductions in, funding to support tutoring—48 percent
  • Cannot find staff to support tutoring—36 percent
  • Time limitations (i.e., cannot find enough time to support tutoring)—23 percent
  • Implementing tutoring is not a priority for the school—15 percent

Daily Attendance

• The average daily student attendance at public schools during this month’s collection window as reported by school leaders was 92 percent.

Technical Note

Statistics from sample surveys are subject to sampling and non-sampling error. All comparisons in this statistical press release have been tested and found to be statistically significant unless otherwise noted. NCES statistical tests are generally conducted at a 95 percent level of confidence. Additional details regarding the methodology, including the survey questionnaire, can be found on the School Pulse Panel methodology web page.

Definitions

Standard tutoring was defined to respondents as a less intensive method of tutoring in which the same student(s) receive(s) tutoring:

• any number of times per week OR on as-needed (drop-in) basis,
• in sessions with no minimum length of time,
• in sessions that may be one-on-one or involve any number of students, and
• that is provided by educators who may or may not have received specific training in tutoring practices.

High dosage tutoring (also known as evidence-based or high quality tutoring) was defined to respondents as a method of tutoring in which the same student(s) receive(s) tutoring:

• three or more times per week,
• for at least 30 minutes per session,
• in sessions that are one-on-one or with small groups,
• that is provided by educators or well-trained tutors who have received specific training in tutoring practices,
• that aligns with evidence-based core curriculum or programs, and
• is NOT drop-in homework help.

Self-paced tutoring was defined to respondents as a method of tutoring in which a student works on their own, typically online, where they are provided guided instruction that allows them to move on to new materials after displaying mastery of content.

On-demand online tutoring was defined to respondents as a method of tutoring in which a school partners with or contracts out services to an external online tutoring program or company that:

• offers 24/7 support,
• is led by qualified tutors (e.g., certified teachers, subject-matter experts), and
• is available on-demand for students to access.

¹Including standard tutoring, high-dosage tutoring, self-paced tutoring, and on-demand online tutoring.

²Including standard tutoring, high-dosage tutoring, self-paced tutoring, and on-demand online tutoring.

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The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, is the statistical center of the U.S. Department of Education and the primary federal entity for collecting and analyzing data related to education in the U.S. and other nations. NCES fulfills a congressional mandate to collect, collate, analyze, and report complete statistics on the condition and progress of American education; conduct and publish reports; and review and report on education activities internationally.

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The Institute of Education Sciences (IES) is the independent and nonpartisan statistics, research, and evaluation arm of the U.S. Department of Education. Its mission is to provide scientific evidence on which to ground education practice and policy and to share this information in formats that are useful and accessible to educators, parents, policymakers, researchers, and the public.