In 2023, officials at Ohio’s Department of Education and Workforce (DEW) published data indicating that fewer young people are entering the teaching profession and that teacher attrition rates have risen. These numbers appeared to corroborate anecdotal reports from district and school administrators of teacher shortages. However, because Ohio doesn’t collect data on teacher vacancies, it’s nearly impossible to determine the size and scope of shortages—not just in terms of geographic regions and schools, but also subjects and grade levels.
To their credit, Ohio policymakers have made addressing teacher shortages a priority. Their efforts to bolster recruitment and retention include investing in Grow Your Own programs, establishing a teacher apprenticeship program, and streamlining licensure laws. These are all positive steps forward. But the dearth of information on teacher vacancies remains a problem. Without consistent and accurate data, lawmakers will have difficulty crafting effective policy solutions.
The good news is there is a solution. House Bill 563, which was introduced in May, proposes a method for collecting and analyzing data on teacher vacancies that could provide state and local leaders with the information they need to tackle shortages. The bill also contains provisions aimed at supporting student teachers, which we’ll discuss in a later piece. But for now, let’s focus on how the bill proposes tracking teacher vacancies.
HB 563 requires DEW to develop and administer an annual online staffing survey. This survey would collect data from districts on teacher vacancies based on staffing numbers from the first day of school. DEW would be required to use the results of these surveys to produce and submit an annual report to the General Assembly and the Department of Higher Education. The report must also be published on DEW’s website along with a summary of each district’s survey. As for the surveys themselves, the bill requires them to request a considerable amount of information from districts. That information includes the following:
- The number of each of the following positions that are vacant or filled by an individual who is not fully licensed for the position:
- Teachers, categorized by required license and endorsement areas
- School psychologists
- Speech-language pathologists
- Occupational therapists
- School counselors
- School social workers
- School nurses
- Other positions determined by DEW
- The number of teaching positions filled by long-term substitutes, categorized by required license and endorsement area.
- The number of teaching positions filled by retired teachers who renewed an expired license or returned to the classroom under a permanent teaching certificate, categorized by required license and endorsement area.
- The number of positions filled by teachers who hold an alternative license, categorized by required license and endorsement area.
- The number of new teachers, speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, and school psychologists, counselors, social workers, and nurses.
Understanding the depth and breadth of teacher shortages is crucial for Ohio leaders. This survey and the accompanying annual review would make that possible. But there are also a few tweaks that could make the survey and review even more useful. With that in mind, lawmakers should consider the following ideas.
1. Limit survey requirements to lessen the paperwork burden. To properly address teacher shortages, policymakers need detailed data. But they also need to ensure that data collection efforts don’t place too hefty of a paperwork burden on schools. One way to walk this line is to limit the survey to two requirements: identifying the number of positions that are vacant or filled by an individual who isn’t fully licensed, and identifying the number of teaching positions filled by long-term substitutes. This would provide policymakers with the data they need to address shortages without bogging down districts in data collection.
2. Ensure that the survey collects data from all public schools. That includes charter schools, STEM schools, and JVSDs. It’s important for state leaders to have data from all of Ohio’s public school options to ensure that every student has access to a permanent and effective teacher rather than a carousel of substitutes.
3. Require the survey results to be disaggregated at the school level. This is particularly crucial in big districts like Columbus and Cleveland, where shortages might be concentrated in specific schools or neighborhoods rather than across the entire district. Pinpointing exactly where shortages exist is the only way to effectively address them.
4. Add principals to the list of vacancy positions. It’s a far less discussed problem, but plenty of schools have trouble finding principals and administrators. Requiring superintendents to identify principal vacancies could help shed light on how big of a problem this is, and would provide state leaders with the data they need to craft policy solutions.
5. Require superintendents to identify courses or subject areas that have been eliminated due to extended vacancies or hiring difficulties. One of the problems with persistent vacancies is that they can force schools to eliminate courses they can’t find a teacher for. That, in turn, limits opportunities for students. By asking schools to identify when this happens and in which subject and grade levels, state and local leaders would have additional data about the impact of shortages. They would also have important evidence of student demand, which—if it’s significant enough—could prompt innovative policy solutions like course access.
6. Include data on teacher supply in the annually published report. To understand the current status of the teacher pipeline, and to determine the full size and scope of teacher shortages, state and local leaders need data on teacher demand and supply. The annual survey will provide details on teacher demand, but it’s important for the state to also include data on teacher supply in its annual report. That way, policymakers and advocates have a holistic picture of the teacher pipeline. Supply data should include the current number of students enrolled in teacher preparation programs (TPPs), both traditional and alternative, disaggregated by program; the most recent number of graduates from TPPs, again disaggregated by program; the current number of teachers with active licenses, disaggregated by license and endorsement area; and the number of teacher candidates who passed licensure exams during the most recent academic year, disaggregated by exam.
7. Require DEW to develop a real-time database of vacancy data. Policymakers need teacher vacancy data as soon as possible. This survey will meet that need. But it shouldn’t be considered Ohio’s final destination. State officials should identify a more efficient data collection method, like hiring a contractor to scrape district websites for job postings, and establish a publicly-available database that uses that method. This would eliminate the paperwork burden for districts and provide policymakers with even more detailed information.
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Teacher shortages are a persistent problem. There are plenty of reasons why they’re difficult to address, but chief among them is that state and local leaders don’t have access to detailed and consistent data on vacancies. Without this information, it’s difficult to identify the regions, subjects, and grade levels where shortages exist and respond accordingly. The staffing survey and report called for in HB 563 would help solve this problem. And while HB 563 has run out of time to pass in the General Assembly, its data elements provide a strong starting point for addressing a critical need. Lawmakers should revisit it when they return in January.
