Virginia’s teacher shortage continues to rise, with about 4,500 vacancies going into the 2024-25 school year, up about 230 vacancies from last summer.
Therefore, thousands of Central Virginia students started classes this week without a licensed teacher, according to WWBT 12 On Your Side.
Virginia Education Association (VEA) President Carol Bauer said:
“I’m not shocked, but I’m disheartened that we don’t have the right conditions in the classrooms to encourage people to come into teaching and stay in teaching.”
Although the numbers are better than a year ago, hundreds of licensed teachers are still needed.
- Richmond needs nearly 138 teachers.
- Henrico needs 117.
- Chesterfield says nearly 5% of its classrooms are staffed with substitutes.
The state’s teacher vacancy rate has increased each year since 2020. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the rate had hovered below 1% for years.
Bauer believes she knows the reason for the teacher shortage.
“We’ve seen teacher pay not keep up with inflation, and we’ve also seen a lot more demands placed on teachers.”