It’s no secret that fewer individuals are pursuing teaching as a career. SREB reports on this data annually. It’s on our minds so much so that SREB recently pursued research around this topic with Vanderbilt University to study teacher labor markets, Gen Z’s interest in the profession and their feedback on teacher working conditions. Keep an eye out for SREB’s additional study on early-career teacher retention to be released in spring 2025. 

How can we fix the problem and recruit more teachers?

Numerous strategies have already been adopted by many states, regions and districts – some helping to improve the pipeline of great teachers:

• Developing grow-your-own pathways to recruit and prepare local, future teachers
• Implementing teacher apprenticeship pathways with paid apprentice roles in schools and a shorter time to degree
• Offering courses in high school that introduce students to the teaching profession to raise awareness of the impact of teaching and provide dual enrollment credit
• Instituting a paid teacher residency year for future teachers to be better prepared, while earning a supplemental wage in the final year of their under- or post-graduate pathway
• Providing student loan forgiveness or pay incentives for teachers who commit to teaching a certain number of years in hard-to-staff public schools
• Developing public campaigns and websites about the importance of teaching as well as how to access a preparatory pathway suitable for the individual

These strategies seem to slowly be working in certain communities. Yet some strategies, like allowing more uncertified, underprepared staff to be hired as teachers of record, effectively lowering the bar for the profession, are exacerbating educator stressors, student learning slowdowns and economic loss.

After years of studying the teacher workforce, I would argue that the way to make a significant difference is straightforward and has been around as long as I’ve been alive. In fact, most answers to large problems tend to be complex yet not-so-complicated in the end. Could the issue be that the job itself has gone largely unchanged for over half a century while our world has changed dramatically?

Before I share my thoughts, let me ask you… Would you want to be a teacher, or would you encourage your child to be a teacher today?

If you said, “Well, it’s a noble profession but I wouldn’t pursue it or encourage my child to pursue it in today’s world,” then your thoughts are aligned with most parents, current teachers and other survey takers today.

Why do teachers decide to teach? Most, 93% in fact, say that making a difference for students plays a critical role in drawing them to the profession. But the realities of the profession, along with the negative rhetoric from those outside the profession, are leading to fewer folks pursuing pathways to become teachers, in public or private schools.

So, what stops people from pursuing teaching or staying in the profession for long? Many surveys dissect questions of this nature but there is no single answer. Inadequate pay, high stress and large workloads are some of the top barriers to entry for young professionals. The more I speak with students today, the more I hear that they don’t want to begin a career where they may not be respected, have a voice, feel safe or supported, or be able to financially take care of themselves.

The most straightforward solution, which will take a lot of hard work, is to change the dynamics of the reputation and realities of the teaching profession – to modernize teaching. We must raise the awareness of the importance of public-school teachers, who make up about 83% of the over 4 million teachers working in the U.S. We should celebrate the importance and value that great teachers bring to our economy.

Let’s modernize teaching through opportunities for multiple quality pathways, each with extended, salaried residencies to attract more talent and properly prepare teachers before their first day as a teacher-of-record. Let’s create opportunities for advancement with higher pay without having to leave the classroom for the principalship or a desk job in the central office. We must help schools identify, prepare and hire great principals and teacher leaders who set a positive, supportive culture – creating strategically staffed schools that increase support for teachers and students.

We must innovate the teaching day and how we staff schools so teachers can maximize their focus on quality instruction and the academic needs of their students. Rather than throwing them in the proverbial deep end to see if they sink or swim, let’s properly support our newest teachers through rigorous induction programs in their first few years to handle the rigors and stresses of the job so they can positively impact students’ learning and lives.  

If teachers are lifted up as the game changers and future-makers they truly are, if they are respected, valued, fairly paid professionals, it will be easy to recruit those interested in helping children pursue and commit to teaching.

We discuss many of these strategies and more in our latest report, Teacher Career Pathways and Advancement Options. Stay tuned for more resources to help school district leaders innovate from the bottom up, including our upcoming resources: Blueprint for School District Leaders to Solve Teacher Shortages and SREB’s Teacher Induction Framework.