Elementary and Secondary Education

Teachers and Staff

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The percentage of job openings was higher in the state and local public education sector in December 2021 than in December 2020. At the same time, the pupil/teacher ratio was lower in the 2020–21 school year than in the previous school year. 

Changes in staffing that have occurred over the last 2 years are of great interest to education systems. This section draws on results from the Common Core of Data (CCD), the Bureau of Labor Statistics Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), and the School Pulse Panel (SPP) to provide high-level findings.

The pupil/teacher ratio declined from 15.9 pupils per teacher in the 2019–20 school year to 15.4 pupils per teacher in the 2020–21 school year.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought enormous challenges to the education system, including a historic decline in enrollment in fall 2020—the largest since during World War II. Between fall 2019 and fall 2020, enrollment in public elementary and secondary schools decreased by 2.7 percent. Because the decrease in enrollment was larger than the 0.2 percent decrease in the number of public school teachers, the pupil/teacher ratio also decreased.

  • The states with the largest decrease in their pupil/teacher ratio were Indiana (-1.3 pupils per teacher), Arizona (-1.1 pupils per teacher), Kansas (-0.9 pupils per teacher), and Kentucky (-0.9 pupils per teacher).[1]
  • Only three states reported an increase in their pupil/teacher ratio: Nevada, with a .8 increase; Florida, with a .2 increase; and Ohio, with a .3 increase.

[1] Although Oregon had a 2 pupil-per-teacher decrease from 2019–20 to 2020–21, Oregon did not submit prekindergarten data for 2020–21, so the ratios were not comparable.

Figure 1 Change in pupil/teacher ratio in public elementary and secondary schools, by state: 2019–20 to 2020–21
NOTE: Data for Illinois and Utah are not available.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "State Nonfiscal Public Elementary/Secondary Education Survey," 2019–20 v.1a, table 2 and 2020–21 v.1a, table 2.

Explore detailed results on this topic from the Common Core of Data (CCD)

While the percentage of job openings in state and local public education is lower than in other industries, the actual number of openings is well above the number of hires, indicating a high demand in this sector.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has used JOLTS and other survey data to track the recovery of the labor market since the spring of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in historic job losses. The data show that there have been fewer employment transitions in the education industry in recent years than in other industry sectors.

  • The percentage of state and local public education sector jobs with openings was 2.9 percent (320,000) in December 2021, which was higher than the 2.0 percent (220,000) in December 2019 or 1.9 percent (194,000) in December 2020.
  • The state and local public education sector experienced a net employment gain of 453,000 in 2021. In contrast, there was a net employment loss of 787,000 in 2020, resulting from 1,647,000 hires and 2,434,000 separations. [2]
  • The state and local public education sector quit rate was 0.7 percent in December 2021, which was about 0.2 percentage points higher than in December 2020, but not measurably different from the rate in December 2019. 

[2] Net employment changes (gain/loss) result from the relationship between hires and separations. When the number of hires exceeds the number of separations, employment rises—even if the number of hires is steady or declining. Conversely, when the number of hires is less than the number of separations, employment declines—even if the number of hires is steady or rising.

Explore detailed results on this topic from NCES Blog | Public State and Local Education Job Openings, Hires, and Separations for December 2021

Almost a third (32 percent) of public schools in high-poverty neighborhoods and a fifth (19 percent) of those in low-poverty neighborhoods had at least 5 percent of their teaching positions vacant in January 2022.

  • Twenty-three percent of public schools (combining the 10 and 13 percent from the top two bars in the figure below) reported that at least 5 percent of their teaching positions were vacant in January 2022. 
  • This percentage was higher for schools in high-poverty areas than for schools in low-poverty areas (32 percent vs. 19 percent).
Figure 2 Percentage distribution of public schools, by school poverty and the proportion of teaching positions vacant: January 2022
NOTE: The Income-to-Poverty ratio (IPR) for the neighborhood surrounding the school location is used to distinguish schools in high- and low-poverty neighborhoods. The IPR estimates come from NCES's EDGE School Neighborhood Poverty Estimates. The IPR is the percentage of family income that is above or below the federal poverty threshold set for the family's size and structure and is calculated for the neighborhood surrounding the school building. It ranges from 0 to 999, where lower IPR values indicate a greater degree of poverty. A family with income at the poverty threshold has an IPR value of 100. In this analysis, IPR values of 200 or lower represent schools in high-poverty neighborhoods; IPR values greater than 200 represent schools in low-poverty neighborhoods. Details may not sum to totals due to rounding. Approximately 670 schools completed the SPP January survey that collected data on vacancies. While the results have been weighted and adjusted for nonresponse, these experimental data should be interpreted with caution. Experimental data may not meet all NCES quality standards.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, School Pulse Panel (January 2022).

Teaching vacancies were most prevalent for special education and general elementary teachers.

  • Among public schools reporting teaching vacancies, 45 percent reported vacancies for special education teachers and 31 percent reported vacancies for general education teachers. 
  • Custodial, transportation, and nutrition staff positions had the highest vacancies among non-teaching staff positions.
Figure 3 Percentage of public schools, by vacant positions: January 2022
NOTE: Approximately 670 schools completed the January survey. While the results have been weighted and adjusted for nonresponse, these experimental data should be interpreted with caution. Experimental data may not meet all NCES quality standards.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, School Pulse Panel (January 2022).

About half of schools (51 percent) reported that resignations were a reason for teaching staff vacancies.

  • Approximately 51 percent of public schools reported that resignations were a cause of teaching staff vacancies.
  • Approximately 30 percent of public schools reported that vacancies existed because of newly created positions
  • Twenty-one percent of public schools reported that vacancies existed due to retirements among the teaching staff.  
Figure 4 Percentage of public schools, by reasons for teaching vacancies: January 2022
! Interpret data with caution. The coefficient of variation is between 30 and 50 percent.
NOTE: Respondents to the survey could select all the reasons that applied to the variety of vacancies in their schools. Approximately 670 schools completed the January survey. While the results have been weighted and adjusted for nonresponse, these experimental data should be interpreted with caution. Experimental data may not meet all NCES quality standards.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Statistics, School Pulse Panel (January 2022).

Explore detailed results on this topic from the School Pulse Panel (SPP)