Over the last few years, Ohioans have heard plenty of reports about teacher shortages. Educators and advocates have warned that fewer young people are entering the profession and attrition rates are rising among current teachers. One news station recently reported that Columbus City Schools is facing a shortage of special education teachers. Officials at Cincinnati Public Schools reportedly spent last summer racing to fill more than 100 vacant teaching positions.
These are troubling reports. Research suggests that teachers matter more to student achievement than any other element of schooling. And in Ohio, we need a robust pipeline of highly-effective educators now more than ever. Our disappointing results on the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress indicate that just 32 percent of fourth graders achieved proficiency in reading, and less than a third of eighth graders were proficient in math.
Bolstering the teacher pipeline should be a top priority for elected officials. Unfortunately, the size and scope of teacher shortages in Ohio is nearly impossible to determine. That’s because state and local leaders don’t have access to detailed data on teacher vacancies. Without this information, they can’t identify the regions, schools, subjects, and grade levels where shortages exist and respond accordingly.
Governor DeWine’s proposed budget aimed to address this dearth of data. He called on Ohio’s Department of Education and Workforce to annually collect school employment and vacancy data, and then summarize and publish it online. This change would have been a big step forward in addressing teacher shortages. Unfortunately, House lawmakers eliminated it. If the Senate doesn’t add it back, Ohioans will continue to be in the dark.
Why is it absolutely critical for Ohio to have teacher vacancy data?
First, it will ensure that all communities—not just the largest or richest—can track shortages. Public schools in Ohio serve rural, small town, suburban, and urban communities. Their staff needs differ greatly. Rural districts in northwest Ohio might be struggling to hire advanced math teachers, while those in the southeast may need science teachers. Urban districts could need middle school educators. And Joint Vocational School Districts need career-technical education instructors. Without a mechanism to gather data from every region and school, some are sure to slip through the cracks.
Second, thorough and precise data will equip state leaders with the information they need to craft policy solutions that address the actual needs of schools and students. Consider Ohio’s increasing number of students with special needs. Staff vacancies data collected by the National Center for Education Statistics in March 2024 show that 51 percent of public schools nationwide reported that they would need to fill positions in special education before the start of the next school year. Nationally, no other category of teaching is more in demand. It’s all but certain that Columbus City Schools isn’t the only Ohio district struggling to hire special education teachers. But without thorough vacancy data, policymakers can’t know for sure or respond effectively.
Policy solutions are available—provided that lawmakers gain a better grasp on Ohio’s teacher shortages. A state-funded scholarship for those who pledge to work in special education could boost the pipeline of teachers serving students with special needs. A refundable tax credit for teachers working in areas struggling to hire staff would provide recruitment and retention incentives. Bonuses for teachers in subjects or grade levels with the most significant shortages would allow leaders to put more money directly into teachers’ pockets.
Such moves could strengthen Ohio’s teacher pipeline. But to be effective, they must be targeted at the regions, grades, and subjects where genuine shortages exist. The only way to do that is to gather detailed data about teacher vacancies. We can’t solve problems we don’t understand. And it’s well past time to understand Ohio’s teacher shortages.
