For several years, data from the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement’s (CERRA’s) Supply and Demand Survey Reports have indicated that South Carolina is experiencing a teacher shortage in certain subject and geographic areas. More teachers are leaving the classroom, causing more vacancies and more new hires to fill those positions. The number of teachers leaving each year is significantly higher than the number of students graduating from South Carolina institutions each year who are eligible for teacher certification. In response to these trends, FY16 Proviso 1A.78 was passed directing a study be conducted that projects the number of additional teachers needed annually in public school classrooms for grades K5 through 12, for school years 2016-17 through 2027-28. CERRA and the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education (CHE) have just released a report that summarizes the results of that study.

In this report, the number of teachers expected to be needed during these years was compared to the number of teachers expected to be available during this same time. Based on this comparison, seven core subject areas are projected to experience a teacher shortage over the next 12 years. These subject areas are art, business/marketing/computer technology, mathematics, sciences, social studies, special education, and Spanish. The report displays tables that include the projected supply and demand of teachers by subject area for three specified school years (2016-17, 2021-22, and 2027-28), as well as the projected teacher surplus or shortage for each subject area. Also included are estimates of the cumulative teacher shortages that South Carolina is likely to experience if there are no changes in current patterns of hiring or completions of in-state teacher education programs. Looking at mathematics, in particular, in order to eliminate the projected teacher shortage by 2021-22, the state will need to produce approximately 459 new math teachers. This number rises to 527 in the 2027-28 school year. These figures incorporate new hires available, teachers leaving, and new demand for teachers from the increasing student count.

As part of Proviso 1A.78, a survey was sent to the deans of teacher education programs in 30 South Carolina public and independent colleges/universities to determine whether these institutions have the capacity and infrastructure to fulfill the projected teacher needs. The survey results indicate that South Carolina colleges and universities with teacher education programs have the willingness and ability to accommodate more teacher candidates in several subject areas that are projected to have teacher shortages. According to the deans, however, there is a lack of student interest in entering the teaching profession, particularly in these core areas: sciences, social studies, mathematics, and special education. Unfortunately, these areas are the ones with the greatest need for teachers and are projected to have the most significant teacher shortages over the next decade.

Overall, South Carolina does not produce a sufficient number of teachers through the state’s teacher education programs to fill current and anticipated vacant positions. Graduates from in-state teacher education programs are the largest source of newly hired teachers each year. Other new hires include international teachers and those from another state, and teachers from alternative certification programs like South Carolina’s Program of Alternative Certification (PACE). These sources combined, however, may not generate a supply of teachers large enough to meet the current or projected demand for teachers based on student enrollment.

Read the study here.

According to the results from the Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement’s (CERRA) Fall 2015 Supply and Demand Survey, the gap between teacher supply and teacher demand continues to widen. The number of teachers leaving continues to rise, as does the percentage of teachers leaving early in their careers. More than 5,300 teachers did not return to their teaching positions this year. This issue is exacerbated when compared to the number of graduates eligible for teacher certification. Over the last five years, on average, only 2,180 graduates completed a South Carolina teacher education program. Adding to this dilemma is the escalating number of teachers who leave their positions so early into their careers. Of the teachers who did not return at the beginning of the 2015-16 school year, 39% left in the first five years and 14% left after just one year or less in the classroom. This occurrence has, unfortunately, become a trend as these figures rose from 34% and 13% last year and even more so from the prior year. 

Statewide, districts reported a 33% increase in the number of vacant teaching positions compared to last year and a 66% increase compared to the 2013-14 school year. Many South Carolina districts continue to have difficulty filling vacancies in special education at all school levels and mathematics and sciences in middle and high schools. This year, more vacancies occurred in social studies and English as well. Additionally, districts are citing a growing number of vacancies in primary and/or elementary schools. 

Some districts, regardless of certification area, struggle to hire and retain teachers due to their geographic location in the state. Twenty of these districts with excessive teacher turnover will be targeted through the Rural Teacher Recruiting Incentive. One possible incentive is tuition reimbursement for certain certified teachers to either add on a critical need subject area or pursue graduate coursework in understanding children in poverty. Teachers who add on a critical need subject area will help address the ongoing challenges to fill vacancies in these areas. Teachers who pursue graduate coursework in poverty will learn tools and strategies to more effectively relate to and provide instruction to their students, resulting in a greater degree of job satisfaction and a higher rate of retention. 

“South Carolina is moving in the right direction with these initiatives to recruit teachers into underserved schools,” notes Jane Turner, Executive Director of CERRA. “As evidenced by the supply and demand numbers, however, there is still work to do to ensure that public school districts do not face the consequences of a statewide teacher shortage.” 

Editor’s Note: The 2015 Supply and Demand Report can be accessed here. There you also will find archived reports dating back to 2001.