While some progress is being made, the Commonwealth continues to face obstacles to addressing the ongoing teacher shortage. That’s according to the results of the Kentucky Department of Education’s 2025 Kentucky Educator Shortage Survey. All 171 public school districts as well as the Kentucky School for the Blind, the Kentucky School for the Deaf and the Kentucky Tech System participated in the survey.
Meredith Brewer, associate commissioner in KDE’s Office of Educator Licensure and Effectiveness, said the report helps the KDE identify critical shortage areas and support the development of policies and initiatives to recruit and retain staff.
“We had 34 districts this year that reported they did not have any vacancies as of September 1st. We did, however, have 140 districts that identified at least one vacancy in their district,” said Brewer.
Last year, only one school district reported no vacancies. Across the Commonwealth, the survey indicated there were more than 2,400 total vacancies. The bulk of those were classified vacancies, which are non-teaching roles that do not require a teaching certification. They include positions like teaching aides, bus drivers, custodians and food service employees.
Brewer noted there are processes in place to fill vacant teaching positions.
“If a school district's recruiting efforts are unsuccessful and the district is unable to secure a qualified teacher for the vacancy, they can request an emergency certificate from EPSB,” said Brewer.
The Education Professional Standards Board, or EPSB, issued 401 emergency certificates for the 2025-2026 school year. The report also showed that 72 percent of districts claimed they observed a decrease in the number of qualified candidates applying for positions within their district over the past two years. Six percent of districts said they needed to cancel classes or programs due to a shortage of qualified applicants this year.