It’s mid-March, which means it’s time for another encounter with empirical data showing Illinois doesn’t have enough qualified teachers.
On Monday, the Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools released its annual study on teacher shortages based on fall 2024 surveys. This time around, the news is somewhat encouraging. The total number of filled positions is up by 7,473 – dropping the unfilled number to 3,864 – and every employment category besides administrative saw improvements in overall unfilled jobs. The top-line number is 87% of responses indicating some degree of a problem with shortages, which is better than 91% from one year ago.
These and other data points are useful when examining things like looming compliance with the all-day kindergarten mandate and the efficacy of the Teacher Pipeline Grant program. It’s also worth noting the 2024 report (iarss.org/2024-2025-educator-shortage) combines information from IARSS and the State Board of Education to cover classroom and special education teachers, school support roles, paraprofessionals and administrators.
A key challenge to solving this issue through political means is each successive year of data underscores the reality of this being a regional challenge.
A full 37% of education agencies reported no unfilled positions. In the other 63%, a majority report “serious or very serious” shortages. The report indicates a concentration in rural and urban areas – not always aligned on solutions – and then within specific content areas or ages of the student population.
“Many districts that experience severe shortages over time also tend to serve higher percentages of English language learners, students from low-income families, and students with individualized education programs,” according to the report, parroting a line from the 2023 data.
Unsaid is the reality that high-income families are more likely to solve the issue as it relates to their children by opting for private school or relocating to a district with better resources. This eventually has downstream effects on property taxes used to fund schools while also not registering with certain residents of wealthy, desirable public districts seemingly unconcerned with the school system’s role in propping up the value of their homes.
As much as I enjoy poring over numbers, my favorite part of this report is the collected answers to open-ended questions. The remarks flesh out the larger issue and add human touches to what might otherwise be cold calculations.
“Since there is a shortage, [teachers] know that they can continue to move until they find the highest salary.”
“Our location with quality jobs for the candidate’s spouse can give our school district a tough time competing.”
“These people want to teach and coach. Not be overloaded with nonstop training.”
Illinois isn’t ignoring this problem, nor are we alone. Positive indicators should inspire leaders to keep pursuing – and funding – solutions.
• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Local News Network. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.
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