A few years ago, teacher shortages were a hot topic in Ohio. In the wake of the pandemic, a perfect storm of issues—too few students enrolling in or graduating from teacher preparation programs, too many veteran educators retiring, teacher burnout, and low pay—coalesced to elevate a familiar, consistent concern into somewhat of a public panic. Seeking solutions, policymakers established two statewide initiatives aimed at strengthening Ohio’s teacher pipeline.
First, as part of the state budget in 2023, lawmakers established the Grow Your Own Teacher Scholarship Program. Grow Your Own (GYO) programs are so named because they focus teacher recruitment efforts on people living in local communities: paraprofessionals and substitute teachers who already work in schools, professionals who are looking to change careers, and high school students who are interested in education as a future career. As part of Ohio’s program, eligible high school seniors and school employees who committed to teaching in a qualifying school for at least four years after graduating from a teacher training program were awarded scholarships of up to $7,500 for up to four years.
Second, just a few weeks after Governor DeWine signed the aforementioned state budget into law, he unveiled a teacher apprenticeship initiative that added K–12 teaching to the state’s list of registered apprenticeship occupations. Apprenticeship programs offer workers job-related classroom training, on-the-job learning experience under the supervision of an experienced mentor, and pay for their work. Ohio’s teacher-based model allows postsecondary educator preparation programs to work alongside K–12 districts to establish apprenticeships for employees already working in schools—staff like teachers’ aides, librarians, and bus drivers. The goal is to provide a pathway into the classroom that’s flexible for those with various levels of experience and schooling and offers credit for prior experiences.
Together, these initiatives could boost the overall number of teachers in Ohio. They could also be used to target persistent shortage areas. GYO programs, for example, can be specifically designed to recruit and train educators in hard-to-staff subjects, grade levels, or communities (like rural areas). Apprenticeship programs, meanwhile, can make teaching a more financially accessible option, as apprentices are paid for their time and often avoid student debt.
Unfortunately, after establishing these options, state policymakers took their eye off the ball. Now, neither program is living up to its potential.
Ohio’s GYO scholarship program proved to be hugely popular. Two hundred applications were completed during the 2024–25 cycle. A whopping 639 were completed for 2025–26. Clearly, there was an appetite for this kind of opportunity. But lawmakers opted not to allocate additional funding in the state budget for FY 2026 and 2027. Without money to fund new scholarships, the program is no longer accepting new applications. If lawmakers continue to withhold funding in future budgets, the program will basically cease to exist once current scholarship recipients earn their degrees. If Ohio really is facing a teacher shortage, it’s a shame that an innovative program like this—one that could open doors for non-traditional teachers—has fallen by the wayside.
Teacher apprenticeships, meanwhile, are still technically an option. But just like with GYO programs, lawmakers opted not to set aside any dedicated funds to support them. Rumor has it that plenty of districts and higher education institutions were interested in collaborating to establish apprenticeship pathways. But without state funding to help cover the costs, very few opted to participate. As of this writing, the Ohio Department of Higher Education website directs prospective teachers to the Apprentice Ohio Dashboard, where it says they can find a current sponsor. But clicking the “Find an Apprenticeship Here!” button and using the drop-down menu to search for opportunities for “teachers and instructors” reveals only five sponsors.[1] Huge swaths of the state—especially the northern half—appear to have no opportunities available.
To be clear, lawmakers didn’t maliciously abandon either of these initiatives. There doesn’t seem to have been any political pushback or concerns about quality or feasibility. It just came down to dollars and cents. Money doesn’t grow on trees, which means state budgets are all about tradeoffs. These two programs aren’t the only ones with considerable potential that ended up on the cutting room floor.
It’s also worth noting that part of the reason why these efforts fizzled is because Ohio has been flying blind. State and local leaders don’t have access to detailed and consistent data on teacher vacancies. Without this information, it’s hard to make the case that state investment is needed. If lawmakers had hard data clearly demonstrating that teacher shortages were an urgent problem in need of decisive action, they might be more likely to direct state dollars toward these programs.
We’ll soon find out if that’s the case. Starting in the fall of 2027, Ohio leaders will have access to detailed information about teacher vacancies. These data will allow them to identify the regions, districts, schools, subjects, and grade levels where shortages exist. The Department of Education and Workforce will also begin reporting enrollment and completion rates at the state’s educator preparation programs, which should give leaders a much clearer picture of the teacher pipeline.
It’s impossible to predict what these data will show. How lawmakers will respond to potential shortages is also an open question. But Ohio has already done the work to establish two statewide initiatives that could bolster the teacher pipeline. GYO programs and teacher apprenticeships both have a ton of potential. But to capitalize on that potential, policymakers will need to invest.
[1] There are additional options for preschool teachers, education administrators, and teaching assistants.
