NC teaching vacancies down 31%. Why that news may not be as good as you think

T. Keung Hui, The News & Observer (Raleigh) on Sep 18, 2025

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Vacancies for teachers and other school positions are sharply down this school year after North Carolina’s public schools made budget cuts.

New figures released Thursday by the N.C. School Superintendents’ Association shows school districts opened the 2025-26 school year with 2,155 teaching vacancies — 31% less than a year ago. The state’s 115 school districts reported 6,209 total vacancies — 26% less than at the start of the prior school year.

Jack Hoke, executive director of the School Superintendents’ Association, attributed the drop in vacancies to schools no longer having federal COVID dollars that were used to hire extra employees to help students. Hoke said many districts couldn’t afford to keep those new positions when the pandemic-era funds disappeared in 2024.

“With fewer overall positions in school districts, and staff that had previously held those support positions now filling positions where there may have otherwise been a vacancy, it makes sense that there would be fewer vacancies statewide,” Hoke said Thursday

School vacancies down across the board

Vacancies are down across the board from the start of the 2024-25 school year.

— Elementary school teaching vacancies are down 35%.

— Middle school teaching vacancies are down 37%

— High school teaching vacancies are down 34%.

— Special-education teaching vacancies are down 20%

— Bus driver vacancies have decreased by 7%.

— School counselors, psychologists, and social worker vacancies have decreased by 4%.

Overall, Hoke said, 71 of the 115 school districts reported opening with fewer vacancies than a year ago.

“These data show the continuing challenge that superintendents and school districts face in recruiting and retaining the teachers and staff necessary to provide the quality education that all North Carolina students deserve,” Hoke said. “Despite these persistent challenges, there has been a continued decrease in vacancy rates across the state, which is a testament to the hard work of school and district leaders in making education a more attractive and sustainable career path.”

No sign of new teacher raises yet

Public schools across North Carolina opened the new school year in August amid uncertainty after eliminating positions and making other budget cuts. Schools dealt with no longer having COVID aid, the lack of a state budget and the spectre of new federal education cuts.

In places such as Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, the district is laying off teachers and other employees due to a $46 million budget deficit.

State lawmakers are returning to Raleigh next week. But there’s no indication if or when they’ll approve new raises for teachers and other school employees.

The state has less than half the teaching vacancies it had at the start of the 2022-23 school year. But that’ s due to a 43% increase in non-traditional teachers who didn’t go through the normal route of attending college to get an education degree.

Hoke noted that the state was ranked 39th in the nation in beginning teacher pay and 43rd in overall teacher pay by the National Education Association.

“Despite the great work districts have been doing in this space, the fact of the matter is, education remains an under-compensated, under-resourced and underappreciated field,” Hoke said. “Research tells us that the ‘teacher pay penalty’ remains a significant issue — teachers make less than professionals in other fields with comparable levels of education and experience.

“Inflation and increasing cost of housing compounds this issue. According to a report released in April of this year, when adjusting for inflation, on average, teachers are making 5% less than they did 10 years ago.”

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