(Des Moines, IA) — The Department of Education’s recent report on the state of education showed the number of full-time teachers in public schools in 2020-21 was up by 455 from the previous year to 37-thousand-567. Department analyst, Jay Pennington, says special programs are part of the reason for the increase. He says the teacher leader and compensation system provides more than 250 million dollars annually — along with the teacher leader supplement — which also provides an additional 250 million dollars have pumped money into the profession. School districts this year appear to be having some of the same issues in hiring teachers as other businesses. Pennington says they have heard anecdotally from districts that there are lots of vacancies and hard-to-fill positions this year and they will review the numbers to see if the actual numbers verify the anecdotal reports.
