411,000 Positions
Over 411,000 teaching positions in the United States are either vacant or filled by educators without full certification. That is roughly one in eight teaching positions nationwide. The number includes 45,582 jobs with no one in the classroom and 365,967 positions staffed by teachers who lack the credentials for what they are teaching.
1 in 8 teaching positions are vacant or filled by under-certified staff. 411,000 classrooms affected.
Math, science, and special education are the hardest-hit subjects. Rural schools and high-poverty districts face the steepest shortages. The positions that are hardest to fill serve the students who need the most experienced teachers.
The Pay Penalty
Teachers with a college degree earn 26.9% less than other college graduates in comparable fields. The National Education Association calls this the “teacher pay penalty,” and it has tripled since 1996, when the gap was about 6%.
A teacher with a bachelor’s degree and 10 years of experience earns significantly less than a nurse, accountant, or engineer with the same education and tenure. In many states, a starting teacher salary is below the living wage for a single adult with one child.
The pay gap is the primary reason enrollment in teacher preparation programs dropped 68% since 2008. Fewer people are entering the profession because the profession does not pay enough to justify the education it requires.
70% Considered Leaving
70% of new teachers have considered leaving the profession within their first five years. The reasons compound. Low pay is the foundation. But burnout, political pressure over curriculum, book ban mandates, and the increasing expectation that teachers serve as counselors, social workers, and security guards without additional compensation or training make the job harder every year.
South Dakota enacted a $45,000 minimum teacher salary with yearly increases and penalties for districts that fail to comply. It is one of the few states that has addressed the pay gap directly through legislation. Most states have not.
Meanwhile, 18 states have implemented universal school voucher programs that divert public education funding to private schools. Arizona’s voucher program went 1,346% over budget in its first year. The money that could address teacher pay is being redirected to schools with no obligation to hire certified teachers, serve students with disabilities, or report outcomes.
What It Means for Students
When a physics class is taught by someone without a physics degree, students learn less physics. When a special education teacher is replaced by a long-term substitute, IEP goals slip. When experienced teachers leave and are replaced by the youngest and least-prepared, the students who need stability the most get the least of it.
The teacher shortage is not a staffing problem. It is a policy choice. The United States has enough college graduates to fill every classroom. It does not pay them enough to do so.
Update, June 30, 2026: Three Louisiana education advocates dropped their lawsuit challenging Gov. Jeff Landry’s plan to redirect $168 million from K-12 general operating funds into teacher pay stipends, according to the Louisiana Illuminator. Plaintiff Katie Baudouin, an Orleans Parish School Board member, said the Louisiana Legislature’s vote last week to back the plan made a successful legal challenge unlikely.
The withdrawal came one day after Judge Richard “Chip” Moore of the 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge dissolved a temporary restraining order blocking the stipend program and removed the plaintiffs’ law firm, Baker Donelson, for a conflict of interest. Baker Donelson was simultaneously representing Gov. Landry in a separate federal foster care lawsuit.
The stipends will pay $2,000 to teachers and $1,000 to support staff, but school nurses and counselors who received payments in prior years are excluded from this cycle. Superintendents across the state have warned that the diversion of general operating funds will force layoffs and program cuts, particularly in rural districts.