There are more than 2,000 teacher vacancies across Tennessee, including more than 200 in Nashville. The shortage has highlighted ongoing issues in K-12 classrooms for the past few years.
Executive director JC Bowman of Professional Educators of Tennessee says the main reason for the decline in teachers is the lack of respect for what they do — whether being forced into political debates or receiving low pay.
“And I think coupled with all that, bad publicity,” he says. “I think kids are looking at college going, ‘You know what, I can go be a programmer [and] make more money.”
Bowman also adds that the teacher shortage could worsen as current educators retire and go on maternity leave.
How shortages look in some Middle Tennessee districts
There are about 80 teacher openings in Rutherford County Schools. The district is offering signing bonuses to candidates who want to teach at La Vergne middle and high schools.
The Clarksville-Montgomery County School System has around 150 certified employee vacancies — teachers, school counselors, social workers — according to the district.
Most vacancies are in special education, elementary, and secondary math and science grades. Spokesperson Anthony Johnson tells WPLN News the vacancies are higher than normal at this time of the year.
“The goal is to have a certified teacher in every classroom, and the district is working diligently to fill the vacant positions. However, when there are vacancies during the school year, the district will work within the parameters of state and federal laws to develop solutions for each situation at each school,” he says.
This could include permanent substitutes, combining classes with a substitute “and other case-by-case solutions.”
Maury County Public Schools has 69 teacher vacancies. A spokesperson for the district says while they hope not to go this route, “the contingency plan is virtual teaching that contract companies could provide certified teachers remotely.”
Williamson County Schools has about 80 vacancies, though the district says they always have vacancies in the summer. There are particular needs in special education.
Wilson County Schools has 75 teacher openings. A spokesperson writes, “One way we are filling vacancies is by working with iteachTennessee [an online certification program] and other universities to remove barriers and offer alternative paths to the classroom for people who might not otherwise be able to afford to become a teacher by traditional means. We are also working with individual schools on (creative) planning and scheduling to ensure all students receive quality instruction even if that means exploratory teachers must push in or teachers rotate to get everyone covered.”
But in Middle Tennessee’s largest local education agency, Metro Nashville Public Schools, there were also the largest number of vacancies: 230, as of Thursday.
The district says about 19 schools have eight or more openings, including Antioch and McGavock High Schools.
“We hope that by the start of school, we are nowhere near that number,” says executive director of hiring and recruitment Amber Tyus, “but that is not anything that alarms us because we are a large urban district.”
The seemingly large number of teacher vacancies, she says, is normal during this time of the year.
Tyus says Metro Schools been trying to find teachers for the upcoming school year since November. The hiring team is holding a career fair to help fill its vacancies on Saturday.
The district is also temporarily “hiring non-licensed candidates who are working toward completing their licensure” to teach in certain subjects. It’s also developed a backup plan that includes placing permanent substitute teachers in classrooms, if needed, at the start of the school year.
Eliminating barriers for teachers of color
But Tennessee Educators of Color Alliance founder Diarese George says to truly address shortages, the state has to give more support to people of color who want to train to become teachers. That’s in addition to delivering a higher quality education to K-12 students, so that they can pass the exams required to enroll in education programs during college.
“There are barriers that are still in place,” George says. “Licensure exams are barriers for folks.”
He says despite the low pay that comes with being a teacher, or even the racial isolation that they might experience at school, there are still people of color who want to become educators.
“They understand not growing up seeing teachers like them,” he adds, “which for many of them is a motivation to pursue the profession.”
Still, many of those aspiring educators are unable to complete unpaid training — like student teaching — which keeps them from ever making it to the application pool of Tennessee school districts.