The teacher shortage in America isn’t new, but it has reached unprecedented levels. This shortage has become more than just a temporary setback, driven by policy instability, economic turns, and undervaluing the teaching profession.
Turnover is a complex issue with no single cause. We all know the usual burnout, workloads, and lack of support are some of the major reasons for teacher shortages, but it’s more in depth than that.
Every school year, about 1 in 7 public school teachers move schools or leave the profession. In 2025, more than 400,000 teacher positions were either unfilled or filled by unqualified candidates, with 3 in 4 teachers moving or leaving voluntarily for reasons other than retirement. This has left 1 in 8 classrooms affected nationwide, with 70% of teachers saying their schools are understaffed.
Reasons Teachers Leave:
- Teacher Compensation
- School Leadership
- Workplace Satisfaction
- Lack of Student Accountability
- Stress from Taking on More Workload
- No Access to Preparation Programs
- Lack of Value in the Profession
Challenges that come with understaffing:
- Class Size Increases
- Support Services Shrink
- Learning Gaps Widen
- Graduation Rates Decline
- Behavioral Issues Rise
- Academic Performance Suffers
School leadership needs to re-access policies and offerings in place to help compensate teachers’ workloads, not stacking up more obligations that teachers already don’t have time for. Fixing teacher shortages isn’t as easy as throwing more funding into it. It’s about rebuilding educational structure in both instruction and policies to support the people underneath it.
What do you see as a common reason teachers have been leaving their schools? Let us know in the comments!
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