A Week Isn't Enough: Why Teachers Are Appreciating The Door
As schools nationwide pause this week to celebrate Teacher Appreciation Week, it is clear that simple tokens of gratitude mask a far deeper crisis: the acceleration of a teacher‐shortage emergency that threatens educational quality across the country. In 2023, more than 86 percent of U.S. public schools reported difficulty filling teaching positions, leaving roughly 36,500 vacancies unstaffed, and these vacancies are overwhelmingly driven by attrition rather than enrollment shortfalls in preparation programs.¹ Simultaneously, enrollment in teacher‐preparation programs has declined by some 35 percent over the past five years, signaling that the pipeline of future educators is rapidly narrowing.²
Nowhere is this crisis more acute than in Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Citywide Talent Coalition estimates the district fails to fill approximately 2,000 teaching positions each year—nearly one in six out of roughly 12,000 total posts.³ This shortage is compounded by an unprecedented spike in emergency‐certified instructors: in 2022–23 more than 22 percent of Philadelphia students were taught by teachers without full certification, up from just 9.2 percent a decade earlier.⁴ Districts serving higher proportions of students in poverty and students of color report vacancy rates 1.5 times the state average, magnifying long‐standing educational inequities.⁵ Despite Mayor Parker’s campaign pledge to increase the share of the city’s budget devoted to the school system, these targets remain unmet, even as City Council members press for faster progress.⁶⁷
Several interrelated factors have driven this depletion. First, Philadelphia teachers earn on average twenty thousand dollars less than their counterparts in neighboring districts even as the city’s living costs rise, resulting in turnover expenses—recruitment, onboarding, and lost instructional quality—that cost the district roughly twenty‐seven thousand dollars per teacher hired.⁸ Second, heavy workloads from large class sizes, expanded compliance duties, and insufficient planning time produce burnout that pushes many educators to leave after just a few years.⁹ Third, underfunded induction and mentorship programs mean a significant share of new teachers nationwide plan to exit the profession within two years without adequate support.⁹ Finally, COVID-era disruptions have exacerbated a pre-existing decline in the supply of certified candidates, leaving schools desperate for qualified hires just as student enrollment rebounds.
The effects are especially stark in Philadelphia’s most vulnerable classrooms. Although 97 percent of general‐education positions are staffed, just 83 percent of special‐education assistant roles are filled, leaving hundreds of students without crucial support.⁸ Furthermore, while 86 percent of Philadelphia’s students are children of color, only 35 percent of its teachers share that background, and educators of color depart at higher rates than their peers, further destabilizing schools and eroding cultural representation in the classroom.³
If Teacher Appreciation Week is to serve as more than a fleeting respite, it must catalyze systemic change. Districts and private schools alike must offer competitive, regionally aligned salaries supplemented by signing and retention bonuses to stem the financial drain. Robust induction and mentorship should be guaranteed for at least two years, with dedicated release time for collaborative planning and coaching. “Grow your own” and residency models should be expanded through partnerships with local universities, paraprofessionals, and community organizations to diversify and strengthen the candidate pool. Working conditions must be improved by capping class sizes and streamlining non-instructional duties, alongside accessible wellness supports such as counseling and stress‐management workshops. Citywide collaboration—building on campaigns like TeachPHL’s targeted recruitment efforts—can coordinate incentives such as loan forgiveness and housing assistance to attract and retain a more diverse and committed teacher workforce.
Teacher Appreciation Week should not end with a week of treats and thank‐you notes. It should mark the kickoff for a year‐round commitment to valuing, supporting, and sustaining the educators upon whom our schools—and our future—depend.
References
Devlin Peck. “15 Teacher Shortage Statistics (2025).” DevlinPeck.com, January 3, 2025. https://www.devlinpeck.com/content/teacher-shortage-statistics.
Sutcher, Leib, Linda Darling-Hammond, and Desiree Carver-Thomas. A Coming Crisis in Teaching? Teacher Supply, Demand, and Shortages in the U.S. Learning Policy Institute, September 15, 2016. https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/product/coming-crisis-teaching.
Graham, Kristen A. “Philly Officials Want to Recruit More Teachers of Color to Address Staffing Shortage.” Philadelphia Inquirer, February 13, 2025. https://www.inquirer.com/education/philadelphia-school-district-charters-teacher-retention-20250213.html.
Graham, Kristen A. “The Number of Philly Teachers without Full Certification Has More Than Doubled.” Philadelphia Inquirer, November 23, 2024. https://www.inquirer.com/education/emergency-teaching-certification-philadelphia-teacher-shortage-20241123.html.
Graham, Kristen A. “More Than a Third of All Pa. Districts Had Teacher Vacancies amid Continuing Educator Shortage.” Philadelphia Inquirer, March 31, 2025. https://www.inquirer.com/education/pennsylvania-teacher-vacancies-schools-special-education-20250331.html.
City of Philadelphia. The Mayor's Operating Budget in Brief for Fiscal Year 2024. June 2023. https://www.phila.gov/media/20230720135438/Mayors-Operating-Budget-in-Brief-for-FY2024-as-Approved-by-Council-June-2023.pdf.
Bernhardt, Celia. “Philly City Council hears from education advocates, who say Mayor Parker’s budget doesn’t go far enough” WHYY, May 1, 2025. https://whyy.org/articles/philadelphia-school-funding-council-parker-budget/.
Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. Building a Better Future for Philadelphia: 2025 Annual Report. May 2025. https://pft.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/2025/PFT%20Better%20Future%20Contract.pdf.
Learning Policy Institute. “Addressing Teacher Shortages: Insights from Four States.” March 27, 2025. https://learningpolicyinstitute.org/blog/addressing-teacher-shortages-insights-four-states.