A healthy public school system is essential for a vibrant society and robust economy. These institutions are a cornerstone of American life. However, the ongoing shortage of educators and administrators in rural schools limits the capacity of the district to serve this function. By uncovering where and how this shortage manifests, we can begin to take steps toward addressing it. The chronic shortage is a core concern for the Association of Illinois Rural and Small Schools, and it works to understand and tackle it through collaborative efforts across the state and nation. While the newest data shared by ISBE and IARSS in the Educator Shortage Report: Academic Year 2024 -2025appears hopeful, with no significant increase in unfilled positions, rural districts still face serious shortages. Reviewing this data, AIRSS has found four key points to elevate about the realities of the rural educator shortage:
Shortages Hit Rural Districts Harder: The lack or loss of a single educator, staff person, or administrator in a small school district has an outsized impact on the quality and capacity of its services. This outsized impact limits course offerings and learning opportunities as well as reduces staff capacity. Shortages in rural districts also come with immense sunk costs when staff leave as it is difficult for rural districts to recoup these losses.
There is a Crisis of Quality: Despite the ongoing shortage, rural district leaders often bring on under-certified staff to fill open positions. Alternatively, district leaders assign extra duties to existing staff. In both cases, the depth and breadth of school offerings and opportunities is reduced as under-certified or overworked staff are limited in their capacity.
The Problem Begins with Teacher Recruitment: The inability to recruit talent into the education profession contributes most substantially to the shortage. Much of the onramp into the education profession still falls back on traditional pathways that are too costly, time-intensive, and uncertain for students. Moreover, there is an overwhelmingly negative narrative surrounding the profession. All of this discourages aspiring educators.
Geography is a Primary Challenge: A large part of the “rural experience” is grappling with geography. At the most basic level, the problem with geography is physical access. On a deeper level, rural communities without quick, direct access to major roads and transportation hubs find it more difficult to attract economic opportunities as well as consumer and social services. School districts in this environment struggle to offer a competitive salary and have fewer opportunities. However, the problem with geography is not that it exists, but that we do not have a good way of managing it. We lack a strong means for managing the distance to services and opportunities, and we lack an effective message for showing geography as an asset rather than a barrier. Lastly, our state education policies, curriculum, and funding mechanisms struggle to account for geography and smaller populations, and so they disproportionately harm rural districts.
Hopes & Actions for the Future
The educator shortage in Illinois persists. This challenge severely limits the ability of our public education system to function as the cornerstone of our society and economy, and this especially true for our rural school districts. Nevertheless, the four key findings above suggest a few courses of action that we can take. By taking the following actions, there is good reason to hope that the future of our rural schools, the students they empower, and the communities they sustain is bright:
First, there needs to be a more committed and collaborative effort to rethinking educator preparation so that it is faster and cheaper without sacrificing quality, and sustaining a strong, positive narrative about the benefits of rural education.
Second, we need to grow efforts aimed at upskilling under-certified educators and staff filling vacant positions in school districts. These are individuals with skills and passion, and they are an incredible asset already in place.
Third, we must develop a good method for managing geography by advocating for rural equity in state funding mechanisms, by ensuring our mandated curriculum and content allows for broad adaptation to local needs, and by destigmatizing living and working in a rural place.
John Glasgow of Monmouth is the program director for the Association of Illinois Rural and Small Schools. David Ardrey of Murphysboro is the executive director of the Association of Illinois Rural and Small Schools. Tom Withee of Edwardsville is the director of Goshen Consulting.
