Status of Education in Rural America
NCES 2007-040
June 2007

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Table 3.11.

Percentage of public elementary and secondary schools with a teaching vacancy in selected teaching fields, by the school's reported level of difficulty in filling the vacancy, teaching field, and locale: 2003–04


Teaching field and locale Level of difficulty filling vacancy
Easy Somewhat difficult Very difficult or could not fill vacancy
Total Very difficult Could not fill the vacancy
General elementary      
Total 75.0 21.1 3.9 3.4 0.5
City 67.9 26.6 5.5 4.1 1.4
Suburban 82.9 14.8 2.3 2.3 #
Town 77.6 16.8 5.7 4.9 0.8
Rural 70.9 25.7 3.4 3.2 0.3
       
Special education      
Total 29.0 41.7 29.3 25.7 3.5
City 25.0 44.5 30.6 26.0 4.6
Suburban 30.1 42.2 27.8 24.9 2.9
Town 35.1 37.6 27.4 25.1 2.3
Rural 28.7 40.4 30.9 27.0 3.9
       
English/language arts      
Total 58.9 32.9 8.2 7.1 1.1
City 64.7 27.3 8.0 6.8 1.2
Suburban 63.9 30.6 5.5 4.6 0.9
Town 54.5 38.8 6.7 5.7 1.0
Rural 49.8 38.2 12.1 10.9 1.2
       
Social studies      
Total 71.6 24.4 4.0 3.6 0.4
City 77.5 17.2 5.3 4.6 0.7
Suburban 78.4 20.4 1.2 1.0 0.2
Town 65.1 30.2 4.7 4.7 0.1
Rural 62.9 31.9 5.2 4.6 0.6
       
Computer science      
Total 50.4 33.1 16.5 14.7 1.8
City 49.8 33.7 16.5 15.4 1.1
Suburban 54.5 31.8 13.7 13.1 0.6
Town 52.9 30.3 16.8 12.9 3.9
Rural 42.8 36.3 20.9 17.7 3.3
       
Mathematics      
Total 33.3 37.8 28.9 25.5 3.4
City 32.3 32.3 35.4 30.2 5.2
Suburban 31.2 44.1 24.7 22.7 2.1
Town 37.4 38.1 24.5 22.1 2.4
Rural 34.6 36.0 29.4 25.9 3.5
       
Biology or life sciences      
Total 34.8 44.2 21.0 19.1 1.9
City 33.1 39.8 27.1 23.9 3.3
Suburban 34.5 45.6 19.9 18.1 1.8
Town 41.8 41.0 17.2 16.3 0.9
Rural 32.9 49.2 17.8 16.9 1.0
       
Physical sciences      
Total 34.6 37.7 27.7 25.3 2.4
City 33.7 37.8 28.5 25.2 3.3
Suburban 32.4 40.4 27.3 24.8 2.5
Town 41.5 33.8 24.7 23.1 1.5
Rural 34.4 36.4 29.2 27.4 1.8
       
English as a second language      
Total 31.4 37.2 31.4 28.6 2.8
City 33.5 37.7 28.8 24.4 4.4
Suburban 34.4 35.7 29.9 29.1 0.9
Town 30.2 41.6 28.2 26.6 1.6
Rural 21.2 36.6 42.3 37.5 4.8
       
Foreign languages      
Total 26.7 39.7 33.6 29.5 4.1
City 28.7 40.4 30.9 26.3 4.6
Suburban 27.1 44.8 28.1 26.5 1.6
Town 27.1 36.1 36.8 34.8 2.0
Rural 23.4 33.1 43.5 35.2 8.3
       
Music or art      
Total 46.1 34.8 19.1 17.1 2.1
City 52.1 32.2 15.7 13.0 2.7
Suburban 47.5 34.3 18.2 16.5 1.7
Town 41.4 38.0 20.6 19.0 1.6
Rural 41.2 36.1 22.7 20.5 2.2
       
Vocational or technical education      
Total 34.4 37.7 27.9 24.2 3.7
City 31.4 40.2 28.5 24.2 4.3
Suburban 30.6 40.0 29.4 26.5 3.0
Town 36.5 36.6 26.9 24.9 2.0
Rural 39.4 34.0 26.6 21.6 5.0
# Rounds to zero.
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Schools and Staffing Survey, "Public School Questionnaire," 2003–04.