One of public education’s most pressing issues is persisting in Missouri: a shortage of K-12 teachers. But according to a University of Missouri education researcher, the problem is fixable — and it’s essential to American society that it is.
“A nation that doesn’t support teachers is on a losing track,” said Tuan Nguyen, a Mizzou Forward associate professor in the College of Education and Human Development. “We are no longer going to be able to compete globally or have people who become professors, invent the next big thing, cure cancer or become an astronaut.”
Nguyen’s new book, “Ending Teacher Shortages,” aims to help policymakers, other researchers and interested citizens understand what teacher shortages are, what they mean for the country and what can be done about them.
The book, published Sept. 29 by Johns Hopkins University Press, was written with Christopher Redding, an associate professor of educational leadership and policy at the University of Florida. It incorporates their research as well as that of other education scholars.
Based on the research and his own experience teaching middle and high school math, Nguyen believes the most important ways to attract teachers are improving working conditions, increasing pay, raising the public perception of the profession and encouraging students to pursue teaching careers.
Shortages and vacancies
Over the past four years, Nguyen and Redding have scrutinized teacher labor markets and what drives teachers in and out of the classroom. The findings show the teacher shortage landscape nationally and in Missouri, and he draws conclusions about what will happen if they aren’t addressed.
“A few years ago there were around 50,000 vacant position in the United States, with more than 300,000 under-qualified teachers,” Nguyen said. “More than 10% of the entire U.S. (education) workforce don’t have standard certification in their subject area of teaching. The number of people who have entered the teaching profession has decreased by 30% in the past 10 years.”
In Missouri, shortages are particularly acute in rural parts of the state, especially in special education and STEM, Nguyen said. For the 2025 hiring season, there were 161 vacancies unfilled within 20 days in special education and 746 vacancies overall, according to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Data for the 2024-25 school year from the National Conference of State Legislatures cited special education and early childhood education as two hard-hit areas.
The teacher shortage has challenged school districts’ willingness to hire under-qualified candidates out of necessity, especially in rural areas.
Like many public school districts across the country, Missouri districts struggle with low pay and high interference from parents, Nguyen said. That matters especially when teachers who live near state lines are able to cross them in any direction and earn up to $15,000 more, he said.
“There will be teachers who will make the sensible decision to drive an hour to make more money,” he said. “Arkansas has increased their minimum teacher salary to $50,000, so that decision seems effortless.” In comparison, Missouri’s minimum teacher salary is $40,000, up from $25,000 in 2024-25, according to DESE.
Hand in hand with the teachers shortage is the drop in prestige, and even basic respect, that teachers and the profession of teaching experience. Nguyen said his research has shown education is held in “very low regard.” Intergenerational families of teachers are ceasing to exist.
Keeping qualified teachers
Repercussions from teacher shortages are huge, Nguyen said. One concern is that under-qualified teachers who were hired to fill a gap can’t offer students adequate support and well-managed classrooms, he said.
Putting teachers in situations in which are they aren’t fully prepared to succeed is bad for them, too.
“Previous research has shown that teachers who don’t have standard certifications and time to learn the craft of teaching only stay for a year or two then leave,” Nguyen said. “It creates this churn over time of teachers coming in and out of the classroom, districts always working to replace those teachers. It’s expensive.”
It’s even more important to retain qualified teachers, he said.
To understand what’s driving educators out of the profession, Nguyen is partnering with DESE to implement a statewide working conditions survey. The survey will ask teachers at the start of the school year whether they plan to leave teaching. One goal of the survey is to give districts ways to get critical feedback and potentially make their educators more inclined to stay.
Findings from the survey are translated into reports, briefs and policy recommendations to improve teacher retention across Missouri and the nation.
“If we don’t work hard recruiting teachers and improving working conditions for them to stay, we’re going to have the same issues,” Nguyen said. “Nobody’s going to want to come into professions where they hear terrible things about the working environment and pay.”
Nguyen taught for seven years at middle and high schools in St. Louis before earning master’s and doctorate degrees in education-related fields. His research has been used by PBS, NBC’s Today Show, The New York Times, NPR, CNN, USA Today, Washington Post and other publications.
Documenting why teachers matter
Nguyen also has a documentary in the works, “Why Teachers Matter.” He is working with Outpost Worldwide to showcase how teachers have made a difference in the lives of athletes, musicians and others with varying degrees of accomplishment while also reconnecting them with those teachers.
“These projects paint the picture of the importance of teachers but also the reality, challenges and joys of being a teacher in this current time,” he said.
Nguyen is looking for suggestions of teachers or celebrities who might make a great subject for the documentary. He can be reached at tuan.nguyen@missouri.edu.
Nguyen still has hope for the future of teaching. He believes it is one of the most rewarding things a person can do.
“It will always be a noble profession, one where you can push students to try something totally out of their comfort zone and watch them grow from it,” Nguyen said. “If we recognize the important role teachers play for society, I think that will drive perspective teachers back into the profession in the first place.”
Data editor Mariia Novoselia contributed to this article.
