Teacher staffing challenges in California: Exploring the factors that influence teacher staffing and distribution

California, like many states, is experiencing significant challenges with teacher staffing. Numerous headlines over the last few years highlight the difficulties that the state faces in developing, recruiting, and, ultimately, hiring enough teachers (Blume, 2016; Apodaca, 2017; Calefati, 2017; Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2017; Times Editorial Board, 2017). In a 2016 survey of over 200 California school districts, roughly 75% of districts reported having a shortage of qualified teachers and a little over four in five districts indicated the problem has gotten worse in recent years (Podolsky & Sutcher, 2016). Similarly, in a 2018 survey of 206 California district human resources (HR) personnel conducted by the California School Boards Association for the Getting Down to Facts II studies, 76% of HR staff reported having teacher shortages. This reported trend comports with data collected by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC) which shows that the number of emergency permits, teaching credential waivers and limited assignment permits issued by the state has increased over the last several years, going from approximately 2,100 in 2012-13 to nearly 8,000 in 2016-17; an increase of nearly 300%(CCTC, 2018). 1 These staffing difficulties likely stem from a combination of reasons, including California’s relatively high rates of teacher attrition (in some school systems and subject areas), declining enrollments in teacher preparation programs, severe cuts to education budgets alongside recessionary layoffs, and the fact that the recovery from the Great Recession means that California schools attempting to attract and retain teachers …