Virginia Schools Struggling to Retain Qualified Workforce, More Teachers Leaving Than Joining

The Fairfax County Public Schools building in Merrifield, Va., on March 4, 2019. Matthew Barakat/AP Photo

Public schools in the state of Virginia are struggling to retain teachers according to a new report from the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission.

An analysis of statewide teacher workforce data showed that more teachers were leaving their jobs while fewer teachers are becoming licensed for the first time, the Nov. 7 report states (pdf). In 2021–22, the number of teachers leaving the profession was 12 percent higher than the pre-pandemic yearly average, while the number of newly licensed teachers was lower by 15 percent.

There were 800 vacant teaching posts across the state before the COVID-19 pandemic, a figure that increased substantially to 2,800 posts in October 2021, the report said, representing 3 percent of all teaching positions. As of August 2022, there were 3,300 vacant teaching posts in 111 school divisions.

“Division leadership in nearly all divisions surveyed (94 percent) indicated it has become more difficult to recruit classroom teachers than it was before the pandemic. Nearly as many divisions (90 percent) also indicated it has become more difficult to retain classroom teachers,” the report said.

Divisions were also concerned about the falling quality of applications during the pandemic, with 98 percent citing an “inadequate applicant pool for open positions” as one of their toughest challenges to meeting staffing needs.

Rather than fully licensed teachers, school divisions were relying more on provisionally licensed teachers. The number of provisionally licensed teachers rose by 24 percent during 2021–22 when compared to the pre-pandemic average.

Among school divisions, 52 percent reported not being optimistic about employing a suitable classroom teacher workforce for the 2022-23 school year. To complicate matters, 15 percent of teachers in the state admitted that they are “likely to leave” or “definitely leaving” their jobs by the end of this period.

Falling Student Performance

The report comes following a National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) report published in October which showed that nationwide math and reading scores among students had hit historic lows.

Virginia recorded the sharpest fall in the country when it came to fourth-grade reading scores, which declined by 13.6 points since 2017. This is three times the nationwide average.

During a press event on Oct. 24, Virginia’s Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin admitted that the state’s students were the “hardest hit” in terms of learning loss.

“We also must clearly recognize that the underpinnings to this catastrophic performance were decisions that were made long before we had ever heard of COVID-19,” he said.

Youngkin blamed the fall in student performance on lowered standards. In 2019, standards for math were lowered in the Commonwealth’s Standard of Learning Tests. A year later in 2020, reading standards were lowered.

In May, a 33-page report from Virginia’s Board of Education found that only 33 percent of eighth grade students and 38 percent of fourth graders were proficient in reading. The report blamed the closure of classrooms as a major factor for learning loss.