Nearly 4,000 teaching positions remain unfilled in Mississippi, hundreds more than last year. 

The Mississippi Department of Education released results from the latest iteration of its annual teacher shortage and educator recruitment surveys Thursday at the state Board of Education’s last meeting of 2025. The surveys paint a sobering picture of the education sector in Mississippi, and validate what teachers have been ringing the alarm bell about for years — low pay is driving the state’s teacher shortage.

Responses from the state’s public schools show that, as of November, there were 6,907 vacancies among teachers, administrators and school support staff across the state. That’s 1,747 more than last year. 

The increase is the biggest jump in recent years. Teachers received pay raises during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 school years and, subsequently, there were fewer vacancies during that period. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, licensure testing suspensions that made it easier for college students to become teachers likely contributed to fewer vacancies, the agency said in a news release. 

Teacher vacancies are concentrated in special education and elementary education, Courtney Van Cleve, executive director of the Office of Educator Continuum, told state board members. Together, the two categories account for half of all teacher vacancies in Mississippi.

“This does indeed remain one of our greatest areas of need,” she said.

Another area of concern, according to Van Cleve: teacher assistant vacancies. She said that pool is often where the agency looks for prospective teachers. 

A retention and recruitment survey, which the state Education Department released for the first time in conjunction with the educator shortage survey, provided insight into the reasons behind the vacancies. Teachers say a top reason is low pay. 

The National Education Association says Mississippi’s average teacher salary is $53,704, nearly $20,000 less than the national average. That average salary is also the lowest of all 50 states and third-lowest when adjusted for cost of living. 

Educators recently told Mississippi Today they have to take second jobs or forgo necessities to make ends meet financially, and State Auditor Shad White released a report this week drawing attention to the low salaries. 

In recent months, education researchers, teachers and administrators have called on state lawmakers to raise the teacher pay floor once again during the 2026 legislative session, which kicks off in January. 

“The pay has to go up if we’re going to entice people coming from other professions,” said Darein Spann, president of the Mississippi Association of Educators. “We’re going to need more base pay for those with families and those coming from more competitive industries.”

His statewide organization, which advocates on behalf of teachers, regularly contacts educators to poll them about their needs. Spann also hears from mayors and superintendents about obstacles they face in counteracting high teacher vacancies in their communities.

Vacancies increased the most in U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson’s 2nd Congressional District, which encompasses the Delta, the region with the largest population of Black people and low-income households in the state. While some districts offer financial stipends to bolster teacher pay, many Delta districts can’t afford to do the same. 

“The tax base is not as lucrative to support pay supplements that might entice new teachers,” Spann said. “This has been a problem in southwest Mississippi and the Delta for a while.”

Moving forward, the agency plans to address the growing crisis by continuing to loosen licensure standards, especially in crisis areas. 

In response to last year’s educator shortage survey results, the agency allowed college students studying education to start teaching elementary school classes on a provisional license while taking a free course to satisfy the Foundation of Reading test requirements. The state Education Department also removed its reading test requirement for prospective special education teachers with “mild to moderate students” or special education students who can be taught in general education classrooms. 

The education agency is reviewing its criteria for secondary mathematics education supplemental endorsements. 

Some educators have scrutinized those licensure decisions. Others, like Spann, say they’re necessary to recruit teachers. 

“I do think we need to open up more opportunities for people to become certified while we work on recruitment statewide,” he said. 

This year, the state Education Department rolled out a revamped teacher recruitment website aimed at making the pathway to teaching more accessible, and the Legislature put $3 million toward the state’s teacher residency program, which paid for tuition and expenses associated with teacher licensure for 201 additional students at nine Mississippi universities. 

Van Cleve said in an email that the state Education Department hopes to address regional shortages through the residency program and will continue to promote the recruitment website. 

Delta reporter Leonardo Bevilacqua contributed to this report.