Amid a national teacher shortage, schools in the South filled vacant teaching positions at a higher rate this school year than other regions in the U.S., new data found. Information released this week from the National Center for Education Statistics shows that while 88% of Southern schools needed to fill two or more teaching vacancies before the start of the 2024-25 school year – 6 percentage points more than the national average – the region fared better than others when it came to filling those vacancies, with 81% of Southern schools reportedly filling two or more by August. The national average was 74%.