Missouri Teacher Shortage Explorer

Is Missouri really short on teachers?

Statewide, no. The state has added teachers while enrollment fell. The real shortage is narrow: a handful of subjects and a handful of school districts.

28,000+ fewerMissouri public school students, 2012 to 2024

4,000+ moreFull time equivalent teachers added over the same period

12.1 : 1Students per teacher in 2023 to 24 (was 13.3 in 2011 to 12; national average is 15)

6th lowestMissouri's teacher vacancy rate per 10,000 students, among 36 states studied in a 2024 national analysis

Missouri is not short on teachers overall. It is short on physics, chemistry, special education, and English language learner teachers, and short in a small number of high poverty districts in St. Louis and Kansas City. Use the tabs above to see exactly where.

Which subjects are hardest to staff?

Share of full time equivalent teaching positions left unfilled, averaged across Missouri districts, 2018 to 2022. The state calls a job "hard to staff" once 10% or more of positions go unfilled or are filled by an uncertified teacher.

10% or more left vacant 5% to 9.9% under 5%

Subject	Rate	Avg. FTE vacancies	Apps per opening

Tap a column heading to sort. "Avg. FTE vacancies" is the average number of full-time-equivalent positions in that subject statewide each year, 2018 to 2022; it shows how many jobs were actually on the line, not just the rate. "Apps per opening" is the average number of applicants, certified or not, per vacant position.

Which districts struggle most?

Every St. Louis and Kansas City area district and charter that reported more than 10 FTE vacancies, from the 2017 to 18 school year through 2021 to 22 (DESE data). The report focuses on these two metros because they best show the statewide trend: most other Missouri districts filled nearly all their openings.

10% or more 5% to 9.9% under 5%

District	Enrollment	Reported vacancies	Rate

"Reported vacancies" is the total FTE vacancies that district reported filling or leaving open, from the 2017 to 18 school year through 2021 to 22. "Position altered" means the district modified, reassigned, or consolidated the position rather than filling the original posting. "All combined" adds left vacant, inappropriately certified, and altered together, showing the full share of positions that were not filled with an appropriately certified teacher through the normal process. Rows with 0% across every metric filled nearly all openings with appropriately certified teachers.

Where do new teachers come from?

All 44 Missouri teacher-preparation providers tracked by Title II, 2012 versus 2023. Because teachers tend to work close to home, colleges producing fewer completers in a region can mean fewer local hires there.

8New physics teachers produced statewide in 2022 to 23

44Teacher-preparation providers reporting to Title II, including 4 non-IHE alternative pathways

Institution	Region	2012	2023	Change

Tap a column heading to sort. Four providers (Cottey College, Kansas City Teacher Residency, St. Louis Teacher Residency Program, Western Governors University) had no reported completers in 2012 because those pathways did not yet exist or were not yet reporting to Title II; their "change" is shown as new rather than a percentage.

Missouri's Teacher Shortage, By the Numbers

Is Missouri really short on teachers?

Which subjects are hardest to staff?

Which districts struggle most?

Where do new teachers come from?