Mississippi reports mixed educator-shortage trends; staff outline recruitment and retention steps

State education staff told the Mississippi State Board of Education on Feb. 15 that every public-school district participated in the 2023–24 educator shortage survey and that staffing trends vary by role and region.

"We did have 100% of Mississippi public school districts to participate in this year's survey for the third year running," the presenter said, summarizing results the board reviewed. The report flagged middle-school math (49 vacancies) and ongoing needs in special education as large areas of concern; counselor and speech-language-pathologist vacancies also rose in the latest administration. By contrast, the state recorded large reductions in support-staff vacancies: food-service positions are down by more than 100 vacancies over three years, and bus-driver vacancies fell by more than 100 in the last year.

Staff described targeted strategies to address those patterns: approval of alternate-route and supplemental endorsements for elementary education (K–6) and more than 10 new approved pathways; continued legislative requests to sustain the Mississippi teacher residency for special education recruitment; and a recently launched professional-growth portal to support observation, coaching and retention. Staff also reported convening an in-person educator workforce advisory with districts and universities to develop additional policy options.

Board members asked for regional comparisons and whether targets link to budgets; staff said they will provide regional baseline comparisons and reiterated that federal funding allocations are set by formula and are not directly controlled by the state targets.