S/O Teacher Shortage

We don't have shorages because there is a local teaching college and the area is desirable. There are plenty of districks in colorado that do have shortages and people come from out of state to recruit.

Not yet in my district, but the lack of subs is so frustrating!

We have an actual shortage of secondary math and science teachers, particularly in low income urban schools. I think we're starting to see a shortage of experienced, high quality teachers in a lot of areas, as good teachers are leaving the profession and being replaced by first year teachers, often from alternative cert programs or Teach for America.

I know my school, which is overall pretty desirable, has struggled to attract and retain good 4th and 5th grade teachers.

ETA: SPED teachers are always in short supply. Good ones are very difficult to find and keep.

Where you live Darkchami? I have not heard of anyone having a shortage. Last year when we were interviewing for our new school, we struggled a bit with math and EC but other than that we interviewed at least 10 people for every one we hired!!!

We did interview multiple for the math and EC spots we just wouldn't hire them.

The City of Houston was in NC last year advertising and recruiting teachers away because the pay here is so low and many teachers can make between 50 to 100% more by leaving the state.

It is a sad state of affairs.

I don't know if there is a shortage in my district or not. I am an empty nester so don't have kids in school so I don't hear a lot of details. However, my area has been growing like crazy with lots of new schools. My school district hired something like 600 teachers to start this school year. I live in a desirable district for the kids. I think it is desirable for teachers too. The starting pay is not bad for this area. A new, just out of school teacher makes about $45k.

***ETA  I have a friend who is a Science teacher in middle school teaching 7th & 8th graders.  She always loves her kids but hates all of the other BS that goes along with teaching.  She changed schools this past year due to administration in the school she had taught in for years but is finding that she doesn't like the new school any better.  I know that she is looking into retiring at the end of the school year.  She was planning to teach for about 5 more years but might hang it up early.  She is in a nearby school district in a bordering county.

When I first started teaching, my school would get over 200 applicants for an elementary teaching job. Now we get about 25. We had one applicant for a special ed job. When we've had math teachers at our high school they pretty much cross their fingers hoping they can find someone. We're a rural area.

My younger DS is going to school to be a teacher.  He did more of his observation hours over his fall break at his old middle school and came home very discouraged.  He said he had a great day and was excited about what they were teaching.   At the end of both days, the teachers he was with discouraged him from going into teaching.  They talked about how horrible it is to be a teacher now and how they would never recommend it to anyone.  His advisor at college told him he should rethink it and pointed out how less and less people want to be teachers.  Luckily, he has done a lot of research.  He knows that there are states where there are more sthan here (NM seems to hire teachers on the spot at job fairs) and he is willing to move if he has to.  He will be a certified teacher but is willing to go the Teach for America route or work in a charter school for experience.  Hopefully, when he finishes up, there will be more positions available for him.  

You know, I think a lot of people feel like this is "not their problem" because they don't have kids or their kids are past school age - but when there are no good teachers left to teach children, what will become of our society? Homeschooling is not an option for most people. When all that's left in the public schools are the "warm bodies," how will our future workers be educated and become productive members of society?

I think it's not just common core (TEKS in my state), or relatively low pay, or budget issues, or class sizes, or administrative hassles, or discipline or parent problems, or long hours, or the contempt with which much of society views the public school teacher, or any one thing. It's all of these things reaching their worst levels at the same time in a kind of perfect storm.

Both of my girls have expressed an interest in teaching, particularly in the arts. I've told them to steer clear unless something major changes.

Not in our area! Teachers often have to move out of state to get a teaching job.

We have a shortage in SPED, Foreign Language and Chemistry/Physics. My school had 5 teachers certified to teach Chem/Physics a few years ago. We are now down to 2. Biology teachers are a dime a dozen and our district hires them thinking they "will do". Now, not only do I have to teach my own classes, I have to teach other teachers how to mix solutions and teach Chemistry topics.

There is no shortage of teachers here

No shortage around here. A friends daughter graduated and it took years for her to find a full time position. Lots of teachers were laid off multiple years in a row due to budget cuts. I actually know several people that were looking for work around this time. No idea if it has gotten any better or not but I doubt it.

Like others have said SPED, high school math, physics/chemistry; however, we had two full-time English positions open last year, and the pool was small. Maybe 15 applicants and only half were decent.

I live in a community with an teacher programs at two universities.