Why is there a lack of teachers in U.S. public schools?

The United States is grappling with a significant shortage of teachers in public schools, a crisis that has been exacerbated since 2020.

More than half a million teachers have left the profession since the beginning of 2020, with the dropout rate increasing from a typical 8% to 9.1%. 2023 saw approximately 51,000 educators quit the profession, marking the highest point since the beginning of the covid-19 pandemic. This alarming trend has left many classrooms understaffed and students underserved.

Why there is a lack of teachers

The covid-19 pandemic took a heavy toll on the education system. Teachers were forced to adapt quickly to online and hybrid teaching models, leading to increased stress and burnout amidst the already heavy workload. The constant shifts between in-person, online, and hybrid teaching left many educators feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.

In fact, teachers work an average of 52.4 hours a week, the equalivalent of a ten-hour work day all week. This is far higher than the national average of 34.2 hours a week working.

This exhaustion is compounded by stagnant wages. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the average wage for a teacher has actually fallen by 3.2 percent in the last decade. The pay of $65,090 is only just higher than the national average of all jobs of $63,795.

Thus, many educators feel undervalued at work, a sure recipe for quitting.

“We are in an acutely serious and severe moment for the health of the teaching profession,” said Matthew Kraft, a Brown University researcher who co-authored a study titled “The Rise and Fall of the Teaching Profession.” The study the profession was “at or near its lowest levels in 50 years” in many areas.