Nevada, California and Utah are among the states with the worst teacher-to-student ratios in the country, according to research.
As schools across the U.S. continue to grapple with educator shortages, legislators are looking to find ways to encourage teachers to stay in or return to the profession.
In a bid to understand the shortage on a national scale, the education research firm Scholaroo collected data comparing the number of teachers in public schools to the number of students enrolled.
Nevada had the lowest teacher-to-student ratio, with 43.65 teachers per 1,000 students enrolled, according to the report. A report last month recommended the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights direct the federal government to study whether every child in Nevada is getting the same educational opportunities and experiences.
The other states in the bottom five were Utah, which had 44.2 teachers per 1,000 students, Arizona, California, and Florida.
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The state with the highest teacher-to-student ratio was Vermont, with 97.6 teachers per 1,000 students. New Hampshire was second, with 96.65 teachers per 1,000 students, followed by North Dakota, New York and Missouri. The full list and map can be viewed here.
Research has also found that Nevada is among the least-educated states in the country, while Massachusetts and Vermont are among the most educated.
Scholaroo also looked at the subject areas that have the highest deficits. Almost every state has a shortage of special education teachers, according to the research, while dozens of states have a shortfall of educators teaching mathematics and science.
Newsweek has previously reported on how low pay is one of the main reasons that many educators are leaving the profession.
“I’m a single woman, self-supporting, and the yearly ‘salary increases’ in my district never keep up with cost of living increases,” Jodi Turchin told Newsweek last year. “It makes it nearly impossible to save, and it’s only because I live simply that I don’t have to work multiple jobs in order to make ends meet.”
To combat shortages in Florida, legislators are considering a bill that would help retired teachers return to work. In Utah, legislators have proposed giving out bonuses of $20,000—an incentive that could attract more people to enter the profession.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, some states, including Texas, allowed candidates to teach without the usual certification requirements to combat shortages.
A total of around 5,800 people obtained emergency licenses to teach between June 2020 and May 2021, according to data compiled by researchers at Boston University.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.