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• At least 60 percent of leaders from each district subgroup (e.g., urban, suburban, or rural schools; high- and low-poverty schools) reported believing that the pandemic has caused a shortage of teachers, and nearly every district leader said the same about substitutes.
• As of fall 2021, shortages were most acute for substitutes, bus drivers, special education teachers, and paraprofessionals.
• Most districts — but especially urban districts and those serving predominantly students of color — have increased the number of staff that they employ, which raises concerns about a fiscal cliff once federal stimulus funds end.
• Thirteen percent of superintendents left their jobs between the past school year and this one (2021–2022) — a rate that the authors believe reflects normal turnover. Half of the superintendents said that they would either leave in the next few years or were unsure how long they would remain in their positions.

Media accounts have described kindergarten through 12th grade teaching staff shortages in 2021–2022 that were severe enough to temporarily close schools for in-person instruction in some areas. Although much has been written about the negative impacts of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on teachers, less is known about the extent to which the pandemic is taking a toll on other types of educators, including superintendents. Researchers have rightly pointed out that school staff shortages vary by state and by teaching subject area, and even by school within a district. Therefore, extrapolating from isolated instances and media reports and overlooking important differences among school districts can lead to incomplete and inefficient — or even counterproductive — policy responses to resolve staffing shortages.

To obtain a national picture of the various types of staffing challenges that districts are facing in the 2021–2022 school year, RAND researchers surveyed 359 district and charter network leaders in the American School District Panel (ASDP) between October 25, 2021, and December 10, 2021.

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