Why is there a teacher shortage?

Shortages are concentrated in specific areas — special education, math, science, bilingual education — driven by fewer people entering teaching and turnover in hard-to-staff schools.

What keeps teachers in the profession?

Research points to strong leadership, good working conditions, real support and respect, often more than pay alone, though compensation matters too.

What does school HR do?

Recruiting, hiring, onboarding, evaluation, professional growth and retention — everything involved in staffing a school well.

Why does teacher turnover matter?

It's costly and disruptive to students and schools. Hiring alone can't fix high turnover — improving conditions and support is what keeps teachers.

School HR: Hiring & Teacher Retention — School Leadership & Operations

School HR & Staffing

Staffing schools and keeping great teachers: recruitment and hiring, teacher shortages, retention and support, and why keeping teachers matters as much as hiring them.

Covers

Hiring & retention

Challenge

Teacher shortages

Key metric

Teacher turnover

Best lever

Support & culture

Toolkit

Hiring & Recruiting Teachers

Part of

School Administration

The idea

What school HR covers

Human resources handles recruiting, hiring, onboarding, evaluation, professional growth and, crucially, retention. Because a school is only as good as its people, HR quietly shapes school quality more than almost any other function.

The front end

Recruiting and hiring

Many districts face teacher shortages, especially in special education, math, science, and bilingual/multilingual education. Recruiting strong candidates, streamlining slow hiring processes, and growing local talent through “grow your own” pipelines are constant work — and a slow hire can mean a vacancy filled by a substitute all year.

The bigger lever

Keeping teachers

Teacher turnover is costly and disruptive, and hiring can't fix a leaky bucket. Research consistently points to the biggest retention levers being strong leadership, good working conditions, meaningful support and respect — often more than pay alone, though compensation matters too.

What helps

Supporting teachers

Beyond hiring, HR and leaders shape whether teachers stay: quality mentoring for new teachers, useful professional development, manageable workloads, and a culture where teachers feel trusted and heard. Schools that invest here keep their people.

Keep exploring

Related resources

See the Hiring & Recruiting Teachers toolkit, the School Culture & Climate toolkit, and becoming a teacher.

Questions

Frequently asked questions

Why is there a teacher shortage? Shortages are concentrated in specific areas — special education, math, science, bilingual education — driven by fewer people entering teaching and turnover in hard-to-staff schools.
What keeps teachers in the profession? Research points to strong leadership, good working conditions, real support and respect, often more than pay alone, though compensation matters too.
What does school HR do? Recruiting, hiring, onboarding, evaluation, professional growth and retention — everything involved in staffing a school well.
Why does teacher turnover matter? It's costly and disruptive to students and schools. Hiring alone can't fix high turnover — improving conditions and support is what keeps teachers.