Illinois added nearly 5,700 teachers during the last school year which is more than the past five years combined.
The State Board of Education surveyed schools and saw a big increase in positions filled, with a statewide vacancy rate of just 1.5-percent. But the Board’s Director of Teaching and Learning, Jennifer Kirmes, says the shortage continues in low-income schools and specialty fields.
“Almost 40-percent of the unfilled positions are either bilingual or special education teaching positions or both”
Kirmes says the board will continue efforts to attract and support more teachers, especially in struggling schools that still have vacancies.
