The Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) says schools across the state are showing progress this school year when it comes to addressing staffing shortages.
The data shows 34 districts reported having no unfilled certified, classified or licensed positions within the district as of Sept. 1. This represents 20% of the survey’s respondents, which were Kentucky’s 171 school districts, the Kentucky School for the Blind, the Kentucky School for the Deaf and the Kentucky Tech System.
Last year, only one district reported having no unfilled positions.
Meredith Brewer, associate commissioner in KDE’s Office of Educator Licensure and Effectiveness, said the purpose of the survey is to collect real-time data on educator vacancies across the state along with information on district-level strategies to address staffing shortages. It also helps KDE identify critical shortage areas and support the development of policies and initiatives to recruit and retain staff.
The 2025 survey had 100% participation across all districts, according to Brewer. “This survey is a way for us to provide the most accurate representation of vacancies across the Commonwealth.”
The 2025 Kentucky Educator Shortage Survey indicated there were 2,421 total vacancies statewide. 1,621 were classified vacancies, 671 certified teacher vacancies, 90 licensed educator vacancies and 39 administrator vacancies. Brewer noted 25 of the administrator vacancies were for instructional or curriculum coaches reported from a single district.
Classified positions are non-teaching roles such as teaching aides, bus drivers, custodians and food service employees.
“These roles are essential to daily school operations, and their high vacancy rate does highlight ongoing challenges in recruiting and retaining support staff across our school districts,” Brewer said.
Among certified vacancies, schools reported needs for exceptional children educators and elementary school teachers the most. Brewer noted this data can be skewed by positions that have the most overall needs within a district, though.
Positions with the most vacancies among licensed educators are school psychologists, speech pathologists and therapists.
Among some of the other findings in the report, 72 percent of districts reported a drop in the number of qualified candidates applying for positions within their district the past two years, but only six percent of Kentucky school districts said they needed to cancel classes or programs due to a shortage of qualified applicants this year.
By Tm Latek, Kentucky Today
