Public and Private Schools Reported Difficulty Filling Teaching Vacancies During the First Full Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic

School Start Time

• Among public K-12 schools, the average start time was 8:13 a.m., with elementary schools having a later average start time by a few minutes (8:16 a.m.) than middle (8:11 a.m.), combined/other (8:08 a.m.), and secondary/high (8:07 a.m.) schools.
• A higher percentage of public secondary/high schools (9 percent) had start times before 7:30 a.m. compared to middle (6 percent), combined/other (3 percent), and elementary (3 percent) schools.

Online Courses

• Nationwide, about 29 percent of public K-12 schools and 17 percent of private K-12 schools reported that they normally offered any courses entirely online prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
• Among traditional public schools that offered these online courses, 41 percent reported that few (1-10 percent of students) enrolled in the courses, while 20 percent reported that most (76 percent or more of students) enrolled in them. Among public charter schools, 26 percent reported that few students enrolled in them, and 36 percent reported that most students enrolled in them.
• Among private schools that offered any courses entirely online, 51 percent of Catholic schools reported that few students enrolled in the courses and 10 percent reported that most students enrolled in them.

Academic Assistance

• Overall, 49 percent of public K-12 schools and 35 percent of private K-12 schools offered instruction beyond the normal school day for students who need academic assistance. Additionally, 32 percent of public schools and 24 percent of private schools offered instruction beyond the normal school day for students who seek academic advancement or enrichment.
• Among public schools, a higher percentage of charter schools offered instruction beyond the normal school day for students who needed assistance (56 percent) or who sought academic advancement or enrichment (44 percent), compared to traditional public schools (48 percent and 31 percent, respectively).

Principal Characteristics

• During the 2020-21 school year
• 77 percent of public K-12 school principals were non-Hispanic White, 10 percent were non-Hispanic Black or African American, 9 percent were Hispanic, and 3 percent were another race/ethnicity.
• 83 percent of private K-12 school principals were non-Hispanic White, 6 percent were non-Hispanic Black or African American, 6 percent were Hispanic, and 5 percent were another race/ethnicity.

Teacher Characteristics

• During the 2020-21 school year
• 80 percent of public K-12 school teachers were non-Hispanic White, 9 percent were Hispanic, 6 percent were non-Hispanic Black or African American, 2 percent were non-Hispanic Asian, and 2 percent indicated they were non-Hispanic and of two or more races.
• o About 83 percent of private K-12 school teachers were non-Hispanic White, 8 percent were Hispanic, 4 percent were non-Hispanic Black or African American, 2 percent were non-Hispanic Asian, and 2 percent indicated they were non-Hispanic and of two or more races.

Work Schedule

• On average, regular full-time teachers in public K-12 schools spent 52 hours per week on all school-related activities, including 25 hours that they were paid to deliver instruction to students. Public school teachers were required by their contracts to work an average of 38 hours per week
• Regular full-time private K-12 school teachers spent an average of 52 hours per week on all school-related activities, including 24 hours that they were paid to deliver instruction to students. Private school teachers were required by their contracts to work an average of 39 hours per week.
• Public K-12 school principals spent an average of 58 hours per week on all school-related activities. Public school principals spent about 30 percent of their time on internal administrative tasks, 29 percent on curriculum and teaching-related tasks, 24 percent on student interactions, and 15 percent on parent interactions, on average.
• Private K-12 school principals spent an average of 54 hours per week on all school-related activities. Private school principals spent about 33 percent of their time on internal administrative tasks, 28 percent on curriculum and teaching-related tasks, 20 percent on student interactions, and 16 percent on parent interactions, on average.

Compensation

• In the 2020-21 school year, regular full-time teachers in public K-12 schools had a higher average base salary ($61,600) than regular full-time teachers in private schools ($46,400).
• Public K-12 school principals reported an average annual salary of $105,900. Public school principals in secondary/high schools reported higher average salaries ($111,100) than principals in middle schools, elementary schools, and combined/other schools ($108,700, $103,900, and $98,800, respectively). Private K-12 school principals reported an average annual salary of $78,600. Private school principals in secondary/high schools reported higher average salaries ($111,500), than principals in combined/other schools and elementary/middle schools ($76,700, and $65,400, respectively)
• About 17 percent each of public and private K-12 school teachers had jobs outside their school system during the school year. A higher percentage of public school than private school teachers had earnings from extracurricular or additional activities in the same school system (40 percent compared with 26 percent).

Staffing Vacancies

• Among public K-12 schools that had teaching vacancies in a specific field, 42 percent found it very difficult or were not able to fill the vacancies for foreign language, 40 percent for special education, 37 percent for physical sciences, 32 percent each for English as a second language or bilingual education and for mathematics, and 31 percent each for biology or life sciences, for computer science, and for career or technical education.
• Among private K-12 schools that had teaching vacancies in a specific field, 44 percent found it very difficult or were not able to fill the vacancies for special education, 35 percent for computer science, 32 percent for mathematics and for foreign languages, and 31 percent for physical science and for biology or life sciences.