Research at a Glance
Research Findings and Policy Implications from Michigan’s Teacher Shortage Study
2026 Report
Teacher shortages pose an ongoing challenge for public schools as they strive to provide instructional stability and supportive learning environments for their students. Now more than five years removed from the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and following several years of significant state investments in the educator pipeline, teacher shortages persist throughout Michigan in varying ways and to varying extents. A nuanced understanding of both Michigan’s educator shortage landscape and its educator data landscape can provide a foundation for evidence-based strategies to support schools’ educator staffing needs.
This report updates and builds on the analyses in our previous reports on teacher shortages in Michigan to provide ongoing context for policymakers and other stakeholders. In this section, we highlight key findings from our analyses about teacher vacancies, retention rates, teacher preparation, and geographic variation in teacher shortages and discuss their implications for future policy decisions.
Read MSU coverage of the report at https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2026/01/teacher-shortage-report
KEY FINDINGS
Michigan’s supply of newly-certified teachers is growing at record-high rates but still barely keeping pace with teacher exits.
The number of candidates earning their initial Michigan teaching certificates increased dramatically in each of the past two years, reaching a decade high in 2024-25. While the expansion of alternative route programs and out-of-state reciprocity accounts for much of this growth, 2024-25 also brought the state’s first meaningful rise in initial certificates from in-state traditional-route programs in over a decade. This growth suggests renewed interest in the profession across certification pathways. Moreover, recent cohorts of newly certified teachers are more likely than those certified a decade ago to enter the profession promptly after completing their programs. These higher entry rates mean that growth in initial certification has a more direct and immediate effect on school staffing.
At the same time, teachers are leaving the profession at a far higher rate than before the pandemic. Even with newly certified teachers entering the workforce at record-high rates, public schools in Michigan are increasingly relying on uncertified teachers to fill open positions. For instance, 7,952 Michigan public school teachers did not return for the 2024-25 school year. Even if all 5,447 of the newly-certified teachers who completed their training in 2023-24 entered the workforce in 2024-25, this would have been only enough to replace about 68% of the teachers who left. Uncertified teachers and previously-certified teachers re-entering the profession after a lapse in employment help to fill this gap. In total, 7,877 teachers entered the workforce in 2024-25, replacing about 99% of those who left. It was the first year since 2020-21 when more teachers exited the profession than entered.
Michigan’s growing special education population intensifies shortages in an already high-demand field.
Michigan continues to face particularly acute and widespread shortages of special education teachers. Vacancy and turnover rates are higher in special education than for any other teaching specialization, and many school districts rely heavily on under-credentialed teachers to fill these positions. Compared to elementary classroom teachers, special educators are about 31% more likely to leave their positions and 55% more likely to do so mid-way through a school year.
Although initial certification and workforce entry rates are increasing for teachers with special education endorsements, the number of candidates pursuing these credentials is insufficient to meet the demand. Compared to the 14% of public school teachers who work in special education settings, special education teachers comprise a disproportionately high share of exits (16%) and a disproportionately low share of initial certification candidates (12%). Michigan’s population of students with disabilities has grown substantially in recent years, further widening the gap between the state’s supply of and demand for special education teachers.
Teacher shortages disproportionately affect Michigan’s urban and rural areas, charter schools, high-poverty communities, and students of color.
Teacher shortages are not evenly distributed across the state. Throughout this report, charter schools, cities, and rural areas consistently stand out as facing significant challenges with educator staffing. For instance, districts in urban areas have more than double the state-average rate of teaching vacancies. Charter schools rely heavily on under-credentialed teachers—18% of secondary-level core subject teachers in these schools are uncertified, and 7% are certified but assigned out-of-field. Rural districts are particularly susceptible to severe subject-specific teacher shortages. High teacher turnover rates in these settings amplify these challenges.
Districts facing the most severe teacher shortages—both overall and within most subject areas—tend to serve higher proportions of students from historically underserved communities. In the average Michigan school district, about 24% of students are persons of color and 51% are classified as economically disadvantaged. School districts with the most severe overall teacher shortages serve more than twice the state-average share of students of color (50%). Similarly, economically disadvantaged students comprise disproportionately large shares (56% to 68% depending on the subject area) of the total enrollment in districts with the most severe subject-specific teacher shortages. These patterns indicate that teacher shortage conditions in Michigan disproportionately affect students of color and students from low-income families, potentially exacerbating longstanding disparities in educational opportunities and outcomes across demographic groups.
Gaps between clinical training and hiring needs may exacerbate shortages in high-need districts and specialization areas.
Student teaching placements strongly influence where teacher candidates begin their careers. New analyses in this year’s report show that practices for placing student teachers vary widely across Michigan’s preparation programs. Overall, nearly two-thirds of all candidates complete their student teaching within 30 miles of their preparation institutions. School districts in many of the state’s “educator preparation deserts” rarely host student teachers who are preparing for special education or world language positions. This may further limit the pipeline of new teachers into certain high-shortage areas.
Research shows that when new teachers begin their careers in environments that differ significantly from their clinical training experiences, they may face steeper learning curves and higher risks of early-career attrition. Our analyses show that teacher candidates are less likely to complete their student teaching internships in urban areas, districts primarily serving students of color, or districts that primarily serve students from economically disadvantaged households than they are to work in these types of districts after certification. These mismatches may contribute to the high rates of turnover in these settings, highlighting a need for preparation providers to better connect student teaching experiences with the realities of the hiring landscape that new teachers will face.
POLICY IMPLICATIONS
Michigan’s current levels of teacher turnover are unsustainable.
It is not realistic for Michigan to continue replacing nearly 8,000 departing teachers each year. This level of churn places ongoing pressure on districts’ capacity to recruit, support, and retain educators. While recent investments in educator recruitment have greatly increased the supply of new teachers entering the workforce, this record-high growth is still not enough to offset the state’s current levels of attrition.
Achieving a stable and sustainable workforce in Michigan requires prioritizing increasing educator retention. Although attrition rates have improved slightly since peaking in 2022-23, at the current pace it would take roughly seven more years to return to pre-pandemic turnover levels. Shifts in the age distribution of the workforce heighten the urgency of this problem. The shares of teachers in their 20s (when early-career attrition is most common) and teachers in their 50s and older (many of whom are nearing retirement) are both growing (CEPI, 2025). These demographic trends suggest that without meaningful improvements in retention, workforce instability is likely to persist for years to come.
Improving teacher working conditions and retention will require continued policy support and state investment.
Actions and commitment at both the state and local levels will be needed to keep more educators in the profession. Many factors associated with teacher retention, including but not limited to workload, school leadership stability, access to high-quality mentoring, compensation, and student teaching contexts, require resources and systemic coordination that extend beyond any single district’s capacity.
Concerted efforts between preparation providers and school districts to better align student teaching placements with staffing needs and employment opportunities may help increase retention among early career teachers. Temporary exits from the teaching profession, which contribute significantly to the overall turnover in Michigan’s public school workforce, are often related to family or childcare responsibilities (Grissom & Reininger, 2012) and access to childcare varies throughout the state (Reaves et al., 2025). Local or state-level strategies to reduce this type of attrition could focus on fostering more supportive working conditions that reduce the pressure to leave the classroom during periods of increased caregiving responsibilities (e.g., access to affordable childcare, paid paternity leave).
Continued funding for programs like Michigan’s Mentoring and Induction Grants and Student Loan Repayment Program can help better support educators professionally and financially. Another state-funded initiative, the Opening the Pipeline of Talent into Michigan’s Special Education (OPTIMISE) Task Force, has assembled action teams focused specifically on addressing the increased workloads and burdensome paperwork for educators in special education settings, one of the state’s highest-shortage teaching disciplines. Michigan’s current policy allowing retired public school employees to return to the classroom without losing pension benefits (2023-PA-127) can help mitigate losses of teachers.
Improved data and research capacity can play an important role in increasing educator retention.
While we’ve noted several ongoing improvements in Michigan’s educator data since this series of reports began, most of these improvements relate to educator vacancies and teacher preparation. Improving data about educator retention should be a priority moving forward, given the urgency of understanding and lessening the state’s high turnover rates.
Reinstituting the requirement for districts to report personnel changes within 30 days of their occurrence would support more comprehensive analyses of attrition over the course of a school year, rather than limiting analyses to changes observed between two annual data collection periods. Efforts and incentives to encourage greater participation in MDE’s “Year Out Teacher Survey” in the year after their initial certification could yield richer information about early career teachers’ experiences and their intentions to leave their positions or the profession entirely. More coordination and data sharing across state agencies and research organizations would further enable more nuanced analyses of educator retention and attrition by incorporating factors such as teachers’ salary trajectories and retirement eligibility.
Sustained and targeted recruitment investments can help to preserve recent progress and meet the rising demand in high-need fields.
Michigan has made significant progress in rebuilding its supply of newly certified teachers through deliberate, multi-year investments in educator recruitment. Scaling back on these supports too early could risk reversing this progress, especially as teacher attrition remains elevated and the state’s growing populations of students with disabilities and English learners create an increased demand for teachers with special education and TESOL credentials.
Programs that reduce or remove financial barriers to licensure are particularly important for strengthening and diversifying the supply of teachers, especially in lower-income communities with persistent shortages. The MI Future Educator Fellowship and Stipend programs, which provide financial support to teacher candidates pursuing their initial certification, received continued funding in the State Aid budget for the 2026 fiscal year. Other initiatives, like the MTTC Test Fee Reimbursement Grant Program, were not included in the most recent budget. As a result, licensure test fees may now pose an additional barrier for prospective teachers.
Why it matters:
While recent investments are beginning to expand the pipeline of new teachers, they must be matched with sustained, strategic efforts to retain the educators already serving in classrooms. Addressing turnover, especially in high-need areas like special education and in districts facing the greatest staffing challenges, will be critical to long-term stability. Strengthening supports such as mentoring, professional learning, and pathways for certification can help ensure that teachers not only enter the profession but remain and thrive. By advancing both recruitment and retention, state and local leaders have a meaningful opportunity to build a more stable, equitable, and well-prepared teacher workforce that better serves all Michigan students..
“Meaningful and urgent improvements in educator retention will be essential to maintain Michigan’s recruitment growth and stabilize the workforce,”
— Dr. Tara Kilbride — EPIC Associate Director, Lead Author
