A nationwide teacher shortage has been made worse by COVID. Indiana teacher vacancies still number more than 1,500, and experts at a recent forum cite wages as one major factor. Indiana ranks 42nd among states in teacher pay. Citing 300-thousand public education vacancies nationwide, Economic Policy InstitutePresident Heidi Shierholz says the issue boils down to two factors.
“What’s happening is that it’s becoming more and more difficult to find teachers, and other education personnel, who will take those jobs under current working conditions and at current wages.”
According to the EPI, Indiana teacher salaries have dropped 10% in real dollars since 2011. Indiana has more than 1500 teacher vacancies and nearly 700 educational support vacancies this year.
