School District Job Postings and Staffing Challenges Throughout the Second School Year During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Purpose: In this paper we investigate school district staffing challenges during the 2021–22 school year, the second school year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Research Methods/Approach: We use novel data from Washington state collected by scraping websites for job postings during the 2021–22 school year; the districts represented in the study serve more than 98% of students in the state. We analyze these data using descriptive and regression analyses. Findings: There was considerable variation in staffing challenges across position types and throughout the year with postings per student tending to be higher in rural districts and districts serving larger populations of disadvantaged students. In Fall 2021, when postings likely signal vacancies at the outset of the 2021–22 school year, the data suggest that districts faced considerable challenges filling paraeducator and, to a lesser extent, teaching positions at the beginning of the school year. In the case of teachers, there is also heterogeneity in the postings per FTE across different teacher content areas. For instance, there are far more postings per FTE for special education teacher positions than elementary education positions. In Spring and Summer 2022, when postings likely signal anticipated staffing needs for the 2022–23 school year, districts with growing enrollments and that received more ESSER funding were more likely to have more postings.