Teacher Shortages? Examining Pennsylvania Teacher Vacancies in 2023-24 and 2024-25

In Pennsylvania, 44% of districts reported at least one vacant teacher position for the 2023-24 school year. That percentage declined to 38% of districts in the 2024-25 school year.

In 2023-24, there were about 2,154 reported vacant teaching positions. In 2024-25, that number either increased to about 2,477 or decreased very slightly to about 2,100 vacant teaching positions, depending on whether the data from the Philadelphia School District is accurate. Thus, vacancies are either slightly declining or increasing.

With fewer districts reporting at least one vacancy, this means that vacancies are increasingly concentrated into a lower number of districts.

Further, consistent with prior research, entities with greater percentages of students living in poverty and students of color and had greater than expected vacant teaching positions.

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Below the brief is an excel file with the data behind the report.