As students returned to the classroom this fall, some schools had difficulty finding enough teachers for the year. In Missouri and Texas, a small number of districts shortened their school weeks to four days to attract more teachers.
But due to the lack of specific government data, it’s difficult to tell if this is a nationwide trend. The federal government doesn't collect data for the current school year on how many teachers each district or school needs. And while it tracks job openings and the number of people who quit in the education field, those figures include administration and support staff in addition to teachers.
The Education Department does count how many people are enrolled in teacher preparation programs though. That data set can serve as a proxy for the overall interest in teaching and can give a sense of whether teacher shortages are more likely in the future.
