What we do (and don't) know about teacher shortages, and what can be done about them

First-grade teacher Kimberly Pate, 52, worked for nearly two decades as a classroom assistant. Through the Mississippi Teacher Residency, she'll earn a master's degree plus dual certification in elementary and special education, all at no cost. "How could you pass that up?" she laughs. (Imani Khayyam for NPR)

Wearing an effortless smile and a crisp, gray suit with a cloth lapel flower, Tommy Nalls Jr. projects confidence. Which is the point. In a ballroom full of job candidates, no one wants to dance with a desperate partner. And, as badly as his district needs teachers, Nalls doesn't want just anyone.

"They have to have this certain grit, that certain fight," says Nalls, director of recruitment for Jackson Public Schools, in Mississippi's capital city. "That dog in 'em,' so to speak."