How America's teacher shortage is leading uncertified educators into classrooms

The US teacher shortage has reached boiling point, with principals so desperate to fill vacancies that they're recruiting uncertified educators to classrooms. 

New government statistics reveal the states suffering the most from the deficit - with Alaska, Montana and Florida topping the chart as of February 2024. 

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics figures which compare teacher retainment now to pre-pandemic levels show Alaska has 10.9 percent fewer teachers now than it did before Covid hit in 2020. 

Meanwhile, Montana has 7.7 percent fewer and Florida has 7.5 percent fewer. New Jersey is down 4.1 percent, Rhode Island 3.6 percent and Vermont 3.4 percent. 

Teachers are saying low wages are to blame. Cassandra Lockard, a history teacher in Arizona, where recruitment is down three percent, said she's living 'pay check to pay check' while having to work through her holidays just to cover her utilities.  

Progress towards returning to pre-pandemic staffing levels: A positive percentage indicates local education employment exceeds its pre-pandemic level in that state, while a negative percentage reflects how depleted local education employment is relative to pre-pandemic

Teachers are saying low wages are to blame. Cassandra Lockard (pictured), a history teacher in Arizona , where recruitment is down three percent, said she's living 'pay check to pay check' while having to work through her holidays just to cover her utilities

Dr Tracy Edwards, a department head in Southern Nevada where teacher recruitment is down 1.1 percent since the pandemic, said children 'deserve better' than the current broken system

'Do I want to pay off my student loans? Would I like to take a vacation? Do I not want to work every summer without fail, every winter break, to pay my bills? Am I living pay check to pay check? Yep,' the Littleton School District teacher told Fox News.

Lockard added that although she's not qualified to teach science, she ended up taking a class of 55 students on the subject because there were no other available teachers - and they all failed. 

'Did they pass the state science test? No, no they didn't,' she told Fox News.  

In Arizona, teachers are paid $60,275 on average, according to the National Education Association (NEA) Teacher Salary Benchmark Report. 

Dr Tracy Edwards, a department head in Southern Nevada where teacher recruitment is down 1.1 percent since the pandemic, said children 'deserve better' than the current broken system.

'A teacher shortage can not be the excuse for hiring anyone with a pulse to teach,' she wrote on X. 

The states with the worst retention rates tend to be among the lowest-paying, with the exception of Alaska where the average salary is $76,371. 

Alaska is an outlier because the teacher deficit is more a symptom of a long-term general exodus from the state for sunnier climes, population figures suggest. 

Teachers in Montana are paid $55,909 on average, while in Florida their salaries are among the worst in the country at $53,098. 

The top-paid teachers live in California, where the average salary is $95,160, and where recruitment since Covid has been up 0.9 percent.

In the Sunshine State, the legislature passed an Act in 2022 allowing veterans to teach in public schools without a degree, issuing them with five-year temporary certifications. 

Teacher compensation 2022-2023: The states with the worst retention rates tend to be among the lowest-paying, with the exception of Alaska where the average salary is $76,371

Applicants only needed to complete 60 credit hours - or half the number required in a BA degree - and a C+ pass in a subject area exam to be considered. 

The move was highly political, as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis touted it as a means of tackling public schools being 'overrun by ideology' which he believes was 'a turn off for many people'.

Carmen Ward, president of the Alachua County teachers union, said at the time that teachers were 'dismayed' by the policy because 'now someone with just a high school education can pass the test and can easily get a five-year temporary certificate.' 

Unsurprisingly, students in rural, poorer communities are worse-hit by shortages than those in richer urban areas. 

In agricultural parts of Texas, unlicensed teachers now dominate new hires, according to the Texas Education Agency. 

Almost 75 percent of new teachers hired in rural Texan schools over the past year were unlicensed - up 17 percent since 2014. The average teacher salary in the Lone Star State is $60,716. 

From February to May 2020, the economy lost an estimated 730,000 local public education jobs - or nine percent of those careers, according to the US Department for Education. 

The sector was already suffering a shortage before Covid hit, but the pandemic exacerbated the issue, the department said.

This was largely down to a decline in college students pursuing education degrees while experienced professors left the career, leaving a huge hole which is yet to be filled.