Teacher Workforce Data by State
Use the tabs below to explore state-by-state teacher workforce data.
QUANTITY
The proportion of teachers exiting (or looking to exit) the profession is trending up. And this rate of teacher turnover is costly — on average, it costs school districts $21,000 to replace each teacher.
Explore state-by-state teacher quantity data below:
Pupil: Teacher Ratio | Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) Teachers | Prekindergarten Teachers | Kindergarten Teachers | Elementary Teachers | Secondary Teachers | Turnover Rate (%) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AL | 17.71 | 42,022 | 1,136 | 4,559 | 16,716 | 19,611 | NA |
AR | 12.86 | 38,629 | 714 | 2,233 | 13,941 | 18,816 | NA |
DE | 14.36 | 9,747 | 155 | 308 | 4,459 | 4,825 | 11.5% |
FL | 17.22 | 166,002 | 1,059 | 9,814 | 61,655 | 65,872 | NA |
GA | 15.02 | 117,837 | 3,113 | 6,341 | 43,647 | 46,322 | 9.2% |
KY | 16.39 | 42,223 | 1,136 | 2,083 | 21,488 | 10,035 | 18.2% |
LA | 18.41 | 38,589 | 1,336 | 2,289 | 22,626 | 12,339 | NA |
MD | 14.79 | 61,485 | 1,490 | 3,081 | 32,288 | 24,626 | NA |
MS | 14.76 | 31,578 | 569 | 1,715 | 12,524 | 13,095 | NA |
NC | 15.48 | 100,777 | 1,999 | 7,263 | 61,631 | 29,057 | 7.5% |
OK | 16.25 | 43,315 | 1,820 | 2,175 | 20,418 | 18,902 | NA |
SC | 14.69 | 53,556 | 1,159 | 2,492 | 34,254 | 15,652 | 7.3% |
TN | 15.66 | 64,784 | 1,385 | 4,190 | 39,807 | 18,947 | 7.2% |
TX | 15.08 | 364,478 | 11,532 | 21,760 | 144,984 | 159,154 | 10.2% |
VA | 14.88 | 87,147 | 2,242 | 4,614 | 30,396 | 49,895 | NA |
WV | 13.98 | 18,854 | 616 | 938 | 8,296 | 8,981 | NA |
AVERAGE | 15.5 | 80,064 | 1,966 | 4,741 | 35,571 | 32,258 | 10.2% |
Sources: States’ school report cards and teacher workforce reports; Learning Policy Institute 2017; IES/NCES 2019-20; TNTP 2022; NEA 2022; RAND 2021; Educators for Excellence 2022; NCES, State Nonfiscal Public Elementary/Secondary Education Survey, 2019-20 v.1a.
PREPARATION
Teacher preparation program enrollment and completion is declining across the SREB region.
The graph below shows total* teacher preparation program completions by state:
*Includes teacher candidates who completed traditional teacher preparation programs and university-based and private alternative teacher preparation programs.
Source: U.S. Department of Education. “2020 Title II Reports.”
SHORTAGE AREAS
Although teacher shortages are being felt everywhere, the majority of known teacher vacancies in the U.S. are in the South.
(2019-20) The table below shows that almost all states in the SREB region have shortages in math, science, and special education.
English Language Arts | Math | Science | Social Studies | Special Education | English as a Second Language | Career & Technical Education | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AL | P-12 | P-12 | 6-12 | K-12 | |||
AR | P-12 | P-12 | P-12 | P-12 | P-12 | ||
DE | P-12 | P-12 | P-12 | P-12 | P-12 | P-12 | |
FL | P-12 | P-12 | P-12 | P-12 | P-12 | P-12 | |
GA | 6-12 | 6-12 | K-12 | ||||
KY | 6-12 | 6-12 | 6-12 | P-12 | 6-12 | 6-12 | |
LA | 6-12 | P-12 | P-12 | ||||
MD | 7-12 | 7-12 | P-12 | 7-12 | 7-12 | ||
MS | overall | overall | overall | ||||
NC | K-5 | K-12 | K-12 | K-12 | K-12 | 9-12 | 9-12 |
OK | K-12 | K-12 | K-12 | K-12 | P-12 | 5-12 | 5-12 |
SC | 5-12 | 5-12 | 5-12 | 5-12 | P-12 | P-12 | P-12 |
TN | 6-12 | 6-12 | 6-12 | 6-12 | |||
TX | 7-12 | P-12 | 7-12 | 7-12 | |||
VA | K-12 | K-12 | K-12 | K-5 | P-12 | 6-12 | 6-12 |
WV | 5-12 | 5-12 | P-12 | 5-12 | P-12 | P-12 | P-12 |
TOTAL | 10 STATES | 16 STATES | 15 STATES | 7 STATES | 15 STATES | 11 STATES | 11 STATES |
Sources: K-12 Dive/Annenberg Institute at Brown University 2022;
U.S. Department of Education, Teacher Shortage Area report
Note: State data for Mississippi is summary data for 2017-18. (Data was not reported to the U.S. Department of Education for 2019-20.)
Kentucky reports shortages by geographic region only. SREB summarized based on all geographic region shortages.
West Virginia reports shortages by county only. SREB summarized based on all county shortages.
QUALITY
Explore state-by-state data below:
National Board Certified (%) | Inexperienced (%) | Out-of-Field (%) | Uncertified* (%) | Avg. Years of Experience | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
AL | 7.8% | 16.2% | 7.3% | 3.0% | NA |
AR | 9.0% | NA | NA | NA | NA |
DE | 4.8% | 17.9%** | NA | 5.4% | NA |
FL | 8.2% | NA | 6.4% | NA | 11.8 |
GA | 2.2% | 5.1%*** | 11.0% | 0.1% | NA |
KY | 9.9% | 17.6% | 0.4% | 4.8% | 12.0 |
LA | 4.9% | NA | 11.0% | NA | NA |
MD | 5.6% | 17.6% | 14.5% | 4.9% | NA |
MS | 14.5% | 22.8% | 4.4% | 8.4% | NA |
NC | 23.2% | 16.3% | NA | NA | NA |
OK | 7.2% | 14.1% | 18.0% | 3.2% | 7.2 |
SC | 17.4% | 26.4% | 47.4% | NA | NA |
TN | 1.2% | 15.1% | 0.1% | 0.2% | NA |
TX | 0.3% | 14.3% | 9.4% | 4.7% | 11.3 |
VA | 4.5% | 4.7% | 3.2% | 6.3% | NA |
WV | 6.1% | 18.4% | NA | 5.6% | NA |
AVERAGE | 7.9% | 15.7% | 11.1% | 4.2% | NA |
NA indicates data was not publicly available for the 2019-20 school year.
*Uncertified is defined as teachers who have not met full credentialing requirements as set by the state. This includes emergency, provisional and/or limited certifications.
**DE reports “inexperienced” as four years or less of teaching experience.
***GA reported teachers with one year of experience or less.
Sources: States’ school report cards and teacher workforce reports
DIVERSITY
The racial, ethnic and gender diversity of the teacher workforce in SREB states does not reflect the demographics of the student population.
Explore state-by-state data below:
Male | Female | Gender Not Specified | White | Black | Asian | Native American / Native Alaskan / Native Hawaiian | Hispanic | 2 or More Races / Ethnicities | Unknown / Not Reported | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AL | 22.4% | 77.6% | 1.3% | 76.9% | 22.4% | 0.3% | 0.5% | NA | 0.4% | 3.1% |
AR | NA | NA | NA | 88.5% | 8.9% | 0.4% | 0.5% | 1.3% | 0.3% | NA |
DE | 23.0% | 77.0% | NA | 82.0% | 11.7% | 1.3% | 0.2% | 36.9% | 1.1% | NA |
FL | 21.0% | 79.0% | NA | 66.7% | 14.0% | 1.3% | 0.2% | 16.5% | 1.2% | NA |
GA | 20.0% | 80.0% | NA | 68.3% | 26.0% | 1.3% | 0.2% | 2.6% | 1.7% | NA |
KY | 22.4% | 77.6% | NA | 95.2% | 3.3% | 0.4% | 0.1% | 0.9% | 0.1% | NA |
LA | NA | NA | NA | 72.9% | 23.5% | 0.9% | 0.4% | 1.8% | 0.4% | NA |
MD | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
MS | 22.8% | 90.8% | NA | 79.5% | 29.2% | 0.6% | 0.3% | 0.7% | NA | 3.5% |
NC | 25.8% | 70.7% | NA | 77.3% | 16.1% | NA | NA | NA | NA | 6.0% |
OK | 27.1% | 72.9% | NA | 85.3% | 3.5% | 0.5% | 6.2% | 2.0% | 2.6% | NA |
SC | 18.7% | 77.4% | 1.5% | 75.3% | 15.1% | 1.6% | 0.2% | 1.9% | NA | 3.1% |
TN | NA | NA | NA | 83.9% | 11.5% | 0.4% | 0.2% | 1.4% | 0.7% | 1.9% |
TX | 23.8% | 76.2% | NA | 57.7% | 10.8% | 1.8% | 0.2% | 28.1% | 1.1% | NA |
VA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
WV | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA |
AVERAGE | 23% | 77% | 1% | 77% | 15% | 0.9% | 0.8% | 8.6% | 1% | 3.5% |
Note: State-reported data on teacher diversity is inconsistently reported. Percentages by race and gender are approximate, due to these inconsistencies.
NA indicates data was not publicly available for the 2019-20 school year.
Sources: States’ school report cards and teacher workforce reports
CHARACTERISTICS
(2017-18) This chart outlines the percentage of each state’s teachers with one or two years of experience, with emergency or provisional certificates, who plan to leave the profession, and who are teachers of color.
Inexperienced | Uncertified | Plan to Leave the Profession | Teachers of Color | |
---|---|---|---|---|
AL | 9.1% | 10.6% | 12.3% | 20.0% |
AR | 13.2% | 2.3% | 12.0% | 7.0% |
DE | 12.8% | 2.9% | 12.8% | 15.0% |
FL | 18.4% | 2.9% | 19.3% | 35.0% |
GA | 9.1% | 5.0% | 12.9% | 30.0% |
KY | 12.0% | 0.6% | 11.9% | 7.0% |
LA | 16.1% | 9.2% | 13.9% | 28.0% |
MD | 14.9% | 3.3% | 10.1% | 29.0% |
MS | 11.5% | 4.6% | 13.5% | 23.0% |
NC | 6.7% | 11.9% | 15.8% | 23.0% |
OK | 11.9% | 0.5% | 16.5% | 20.0% |
SC | 10.8% | 1.2% | 13.0% | 21.0% |
TN | 11.8% | 2.2% | 14.5% | 17.0% |
TX | 15.5% | 2.4% | 14.5% | 40.0% |
VA | 10.8% | 4.0% | 12.7% | 18.0% |
WV | 9.2% | 2.5% | 17.6% | 3.0% |
NATIONAL AVG. | 11.7% | 3.2% | 12.3% | 21.0% |
Source: NCES National Teacher and Principal Survey, 2017-18