RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina’s public school systems saw a 58.4% increase in vacant teaching positions this fall, according to a new state report. Vacancies topped 5,000 teachers, comprising more than 5% of all teachers.
The report partly illustrates the challenges school leaders and teachers have voiced about fully staffing their schools — and adequately educating students with employees stretched thin. The growing struggle is now coinciding with pressure to speed up students’ learning and make up for the slowed pace of learning that occurred during the first year or more of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in lower student test scores.
At the same time, the state is reporting fewer students enrolled in the state’s 15 public colleges of education.
“If we don’t turn around this trend, we face serious consequences in our K-12 system,” said Eric Davis, chairman of the State Board of Education.
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