NORFOLK, Va. — Against the backdrop of a nationwide teacher shortage, school divisions across Hampton Roads report being understaffed.
"We have an enormous amount of pressure put on educators to do a number of things," said Carol Bauer, president of the Virginia Education Association (VEA). "We also see pay that does not keep up with the cost of living."
The VEA represents about 40,000 public school teachers and other education professionals across the Commonwealth. The organization focuses on supporting teachers and improving the quality of education.
"We work on policies that make classroom learning environments better for all our students and for our educators," Bauer said.
By advocating for the rights and interests of educators, the VEA aims to also help fill teaching jobs in Virginia. The significant and ongoing lack of qualified teachers is affecting schools across the United States, and Bauer said it's a problem that's not new to the field of education.
"Before the pandemic, we saw a number of educators leaving," Bauer said. "We had a high number of educators at the end of their career leaving. And we did not have as many people coming into the career as well."
With fewer educators to lead classrooms, existing teachers are facing increased workloads and added responsibilities.
"What you'll see is a number of resources that we know, a number of different services that we know will help students be successful not happening," Bauer said, "because those teachers are needed to fill other vacancies."
In Hampton Roads, Bauer said the number of teacher vacancies is even more concerning.
"In some cases, we are twice as high as some other parts of the state," Bauer said, also noting teacher vacancy rates among some school divisions during the 2023-2024 school year. "Last year, Portsmouth started out with a 13.4%, Hampton started with a 10.5%, and Norfolk started out with a 17%."
We reached out to 10 local school divisions to find out about current teacher vacancies and received responses between August 26 and September 3. (Each division's response can be found at the bottom of this article.)
Of those that responded, Suffolk Public Schools reportedly had the most teacher spots to fill at 121. Newport News Public Schools and Portsmouth Public Schools also were high on the list at 76 and 75 educator openings, respectively.
Here is the full list of school divisions that reported teacher vacancy numbers:
- Suffolk Public Schools- 121 (as of August 26)
- Newport News Public Schools- 76 (as of August 27)
- Portsmouth Public Schools- 75 (as of August 26)
- Chesapeake Public Schools- 45 (as of August 30)
- Virginia Beach City Public Schools- 25 (as of August 27)
- York County School Division- 11 (as of August 27)
- Hampton City Schools- 8.5 (as of August 26)
- Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools- 6.5 (as of August 26)
- Isle of Wight County Schools- 6 (as of September 3)
Bauer said that historically, the teacher shortage was particularly severe in subjects like math and science, but that is no longer the case.
"The vacancy is across the board right now. We have vacancies in elementary... classrooms, we have vacancies in middle school, and we have vacancies in high school as well," Bauer said. "We still have high vacancy rates in, particularly, those classrooms that have [a] high [number of] students of color and high poverty rates."
School divisions are sweetening the pot for qualified applicants with incentives like sign-on bonuses, tuition reimbursement, and flexible hours. Bauer said filling the gaps will provide the consistency students need.
"We want to build a sense of community in our classrooms. We want to bring those students together," Bauer said. "And that goes a long way into helping [build] a learning environment for all our students."
School divisions are also working to fill other support positions, including teacher's aides, bus drivers, and custodians.
Here are the statements we received from local school divisions regarding teacher vacancies and efforts to attract qualified applicants:
Suffolk Public Schools (as of August 26):
We currently have 121 teacher vacancies. Right now we have an $1,800 bonus for teaching jobs!
Newport News Public Schools (as of August 27):
Newport News Public Schools has 76 instructional vacancies. All classrooms are covered.
Newport News Public Schools is actively hiring teachers in all instructional levels and subject areas. Interested candidates with a Virginia teaching license are encouraged to apply.
Prospective teachers with at least a bachelor's degree who meet certain Virginia Department of Education criteria may be accepted for a provisional teaching license.
The school division is also hiring associate teachers. This teaching opportunity is for candidates with a bachelor’s or master’s degree to teach for one school year in an elementary or secondary school as they work towards completing their licensure requirements. It is a fully benefited role and associate teachers are eligible for health insurance, group life insurance, Virginia Retirement System, tuition reimbursement, and other benefits received by full-time employees of NNPS.
Portsmouth Public Schools (as of August 26):
Currently, we have 75 teacher vacancies. Even with this number of vacancies, classes are covered either by substitute teachers or through strategic scheduling.
For some additional context, please note that, in July, PPS had 200 vacancies. The division has been able to fill these positions in several ways. First, thanks to the efforts of the General Assembly and the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE), PPS Human Resources (HR) staff were able to use 41 local licenses to bring qualified individuals into PPS classrooms. Secondly, the division has also partnered with international agencies, University Instructors and Proximity Learning, to help fill these positions and address staffing needs. Finally, due to the budget planning of the Portsmouth City School Board, the division has been able to offer a $6,000 signing bonus to new teachers.
With these combined efforts, staff expects continued progress in filling these positions.
In addition to these measures, the division launched PPS Grows, a "grow your own" program, which offers $5,500 in college tuition or payment to iTeach to help develop and place qualified educators in schools. PPS Grows can support up to 170 participants, and within just two weeks of launching this program, the division has already received 71 applications.
As always, anyone interested in a career in education is encouraged to begin their journey with PPS and can visit ppsk12.us/jobs for more information.
Chesapeake Public Schools (as of August 30):
Elementary Teachers = 22
Secondary Teachers = 23
Chesapeake Public Schools is hiring! Visit Chesapeake Public Schools Careers Page and apply today!
Application Assistance:
The Department of Human Resources is hosting "Walk Up Wednesdays" to assist applicants with their applications from August 21, 2024, through September 24, 2024, from 11:00AM to 2:00PM at the Chesapeake Public Schools School Administration Building located at 1421 Kristina Way, Chesapeake, VA 23320.
Virginia Beach City Public Schools (as of August 27):
Virginia Beach City Public Schools (VBCPS) is actively working to fill 25 full-time classroom vacancies across our schools. We remain committed to providing a high-quality education for our students, and our ongoing recruitment efforts are focused on securing the best educators to contribute to our students’ success.
York County School Division (as of August 27):
We currently have 11 teacher vacancies with the greatest need in special education, career and technical education, science, and math. Some incentives YCSD provides are:
Tuition reimbursement
Mentor program
Career development and advancement opportunities
Competitive salary and benefits package
Applicants for teaching positions need to have the ability to be provisionally licensed to move directly into the role; however, YCSD will work with individuals to assist with reaching the qualifications needed move them into the teaching role while they work in a similar capacity within the division.
We have also received the following designations:
#1 school division in region (Niche, 2024)
#1 Best place to teach in region (Niche, 2024)
2024 best community for music education
School division of innovation
Hampton City Schools (as of August 26):
We are currently 99.43% staffed in our classrooms, leaving us with 8.5 teacher vacancies at this time. We are still offering a $5,000 sign-on bonus for select schools and positions. We also have a $3,000 sign-on bonus for all math teachers (regardless of the school).
Interested candidates should visit TeachHampton.com for additional information.
Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools (as of August 26):
Across WJCC Schools (16 schools and pre-K program) we have six full-time and one part-time instructional vacancies. In areas of support (ex. bus drivers, cafeteria workers, custodial, teacher assistants), we have several openings. Job seekers may be interested in these opportunities as they offer a variety of schedules, excellent benefits, and pathways for advancement. For example, some positions are year-round while some have workdays only when students are in session. Likewise, we have positions that range from 2.5 hours per day to 8 hours per day, with work hours in the morning, midday, or evening. We would be honored to have our community share their time and talents with our students.
We encourage anyone looking to support our community to visit our Careers webpage and start their application online! https://wjccschools.org/careers/
Isle of Wight County Schools (as of September 3):
We currently have 6 classroom teacher vacancies out of approximately 560 positions. We still need three Special Education positions, one elementary, a middle school English, and a high school math. Anyone interested in applying can visit our website (www.iwcs.k12.va.us) or call us at 757-357-4393 for more information.
We do not have any financial incentives for new employees; however, Isle of Wight County Schools does offer a warm and welcoming environment with support from a structured mentorship program to provide our new teachers with the tools they need for a successful year. We also have a school calendar with days built-in for staff and students to focus on their well-being.
Norfolk Public Schools (as of September 3):
We currently have a 97% fill rate for teacher vacancies. Our newly created Associate Teacher position assisted us in filling approximately 150 teacher vacancies this summer. Those in the Associate Teacher position work to fulfill classroom duties while following a fast-tracked educational route to qualifying for and obtaining a VDOE teaching license. A bachelor’s degree is required as well as a commitment to complete a licensure program while serving in this position.
Associate teacher and licensed classroom teacher positions remain available in the areas of Elementary, Middle, Special Education, Art, Spanish, and High School content areas. Candidates who are interested in pursuing employment in one of these areas are encouraged to apply. Hiring bonuses will be provided to those hired into Associate Teacher and classroom teacher positions and an additional bonus will be provided to those who choose to teach in one of our Equity and Excellence Learning Centers.
Teacher incentives include:
$3,000 Retention Bonus for eligible full-time, contracted employees and other staff who renew and complete their contracts for the 2024-2025 school year
- $2,000 Let’s Get Started payment for student teachers who begin full-time employment with Norfolk Public Schools
- $2,000 NPS Believes in You Bonus for classified employees who move to a teacher position
- $1,500 Welcome Back Bonus for former NPS teachers returning after a separation period of a year or more
- $500 Relocation Bonus for new teacher hires coming from a non-Hampton Roads locality
- $350 Student Teacher Placement one-time incentive for teachers who accept a student teacher placement to supervise
- $250 Finders Keepers one-time incentive for non-administrative, full-time employees who refer teaching candidates who are successfully hired
Learn more about our Associate Teacher Program at https://www.npsk12.com/Page/22298.
Apply for all open positions at https://norfolkpsd.tedk12.com/hire/index.aspx.