Chapter 6 – How to Hire Better in 2026

At a Glance

Teacher and staff shortages remain one of the most pressing issues in public education. Sixty-six percent of districts still report teacher shortages. That’s down from 81% the year before, but it is still a firm majority. Large urban districts feel this strain even more: 90% report shortages. Across the country in 2025, 45,582 teacher positions were vacant, and another 365,967 were filled by teachers not certified in their subject. In total, about 411,000 classrooms (roughly one in eight) lack a fully licensed teacher. 

Districts struggle to keep enough qualified teachers and staff in the buildings where they are needed most. HR teams and principals are losing time thanks to constant triage, vacancies remain open, and high-turnover jobs reopen every year. Hiring never really ends. 

But this challenge isn’t just about people. It’s also about the pipeline and the process behind them. When each step happens in isolation, the process slows down and districts lose strong candidates. 

Modern, K–12-specific software pulls these steps into one clear, shared view. It can maintain a live pool of candidates for hard‑to‑fill roles, move people from “interested” to “hired and ready to go” faster, and give leaders real‑time visibility into staffing progress, as well as where gaps exist. 

Below, you’ll see how integrated Frontline solutions can help districts shift from reactive hiring to a steady, sustainable pipeline strategy. 

Where Shortages Are the Worst 

Districts experience the greatest strain in high‑turnover instructional roles like special education, math, science, and early childhood education. These areas often require specialized training or credentials, which narrows the pool of qualified applicants even before a district posts a job. 

Non‑instructional and support roles are seeing similar pressure. Paraprofessionals, classroom aides, custodial staff, cafeteria teams, substitutes, and especially bus drivers remain difficult to recruit: about 90% of districts report challenges filling transportation roles. These positions are essential for safe, steady operations, yet they often compete with private‑sector wages and schedules. 

And geography plays a role, too. Rural districts often have small local candidate pools or require long commutes. Urban districts, by contrast, must recruit at scale while addressing high, concentrated needs. In both settings, leaders often feel like the applicant pipeline never refills as quickly as positions open. 

Operational Impacts on the Ground 

These shortages, of course, take a toll on daily operations. 

In classrooms, teachers are forced to cover larger classes, and sometimes classes are cancelled altogether, pushing students into other classes or to different teachers. Programs and interventions pause until staff are available, and substitute coverage becomes a frequent occurrence. Often, coaches or administrators often step in to cover classes. 

For HR teams, shortages turn every week into an emergency. Staff spend hours posting and reposting the same roles, tracking candidates across email threads and spreadsheets, and trying to keep hiring managers aligned. Strategy takes a back seat to survival. 

Principals, already stretched thin, lose valuable time screening resumes and arranging interviews. Many feel forced to take “whoever is available,” even when they know a role demands a more specific skill set. 

Strategic Implications 

When staffing is unstable, it hurts instruction, district budgets, and public trust. 

Turnover is often highest in schools that serve students with the greatest needs. Student outcomes and equity both suffer. This frequent change undermines long‑term improvement plans. 

Budget and efficiency take a hit as districts rely on long‑term substitutes and paying teachers overtime to handle the workload. But that’s not all: replacing a single teacher can cost $12,000 to $25,000, depending on district size, thanks to separation costs and the expense of recruiting, hiring, and onboarding new teachers. 

Reputation also matters. Word of mouth spreads quickly when hiring feels slow or inconsistent, and communities notice when classrooms are always short-staffed. 

The Opportunity 

Shift from Filling Vacancies to Filling Your Hiring Funnel 

Districts with chronic shortages simply can’t rely on one‑off postings. They need a year‑round strategy backed by data and supported by an integrated system that links recruitment, hiring, onboarding, and ongoing HR operations such as credentials and contract renewals. Because (as most HR directors will attest), hiring season no longer ends in September.

“We like to joke that summers are a busy time, but it’ll die down in the fall. And I’m still waiting for that to happen.”

Kristen Riedy

Whitehall‑Coplay School District, Pennsylvania

How Software Improves Each Stage 

Modern tools can help at every step. Recruitment systems allow you to reach more K–12 candidates, including passive job seekers, and to be prepared to reach out to qualified candidates before postings even go live. Hiring tools standardize the process across campuses, identify applicants who will be a good fit through screening assessments, and speed up requisition approvals so districts can act fast. Applicant data can be passed directly to a digital onboarding system, reducing errors. Onboarding then gives new hires a clear checklist and can dramatically decrease the time needed to prepare a new hire to step into the classroom. As the year progresses, ongoing operations get smoother when credentials, contracts, and staff records live in one place. 

Integrated Platform vs. Point Solutions 

Point solutions create friction. Using separate tools for recruiting, onboarding, and records leads to mistakes (and costly delays) through manual data entry and inconsistent workflows. An integrated platform replaces all of that with one connected path from application through hiring, onboarding, and eventually contract renewal, which gives HR, principals, and district leaders a shared view of staffing. 

Checklist: What to Look For 

When exploring recruiting and hiring software, look for systems that:

Different Jobs, Different Hiring Pressures

Best Practices for a Strong Hiring Process

A steady hiring process starts with understanding your needs, your bottlenecks, and the steps in your process. Districts that grow their applicant pools and shorten hiring cycles tend to share a few habits. These habits keep the process predictable, help schools move faster, and reduce the risk of losing good candidates along the way. 

• Start with data to identify high‑need roles and track time‑to‑fill. 

• Build role‑specific recruitment funnels and align steps to each position. 

• Make onboarding part of your recruiting story by keeping the experience simple and digital. 

• Involve principals with clear expectations and shared dashboards. 

• Measure and refine your tactics. 

• Avoid pitfalls like inconsistent workflows or reliance on generic job boards. 

Teacher and staff shortages are real, but districts have a practical path forward. With data‑driven recruitment funnels and seamless onboarding and HR operations, leaders can fill critical roles faster and keep classrooms staffed. 

Superintendents can gain district‑wide visibility, HR directors can refocus on strategy, and principals can get strong candidates in front of students fast.