There are 243 vacant teacher positions in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, less than two weeks before classes resume, according to the latest numbers presented by district officials at Tuesday night’s school board meeting.
That represents about 1.3 teacher vacancies per school.
But that number represents a 97.4% fill rate for instructional roles. And it reflects an improvement over past years — that’s 55 fewer vacancies than this time last year, school officials said. Two years ago, there were more than 500 vacancies.
Chief of Staff and Community Engagement Ingrid Medlock told the board the improvements highlight the district’s “new and innovative recruitment methods.”
“We will continue to fill our vacancies year-round with our recruitment efforts,” Medlock said. “Plans have been created to make sure that we’re providing high-quality instruction from a licensed teacher to all of our students.”
Teacher attrition has been a sticking point for schools across the state in recent years amid ongoing conversations about North Carolina’s relatively low teacher pay.
Statewide, vacancies have increased in each of the last three school years and hit a record high last year, according to the Department of Public Instruction’s latest State of the Teaching Profession report.
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