Middle Tennessee Districts Face Teacher Shortages As School Year Looms

NASHVILLE, TN — With school starting across the Midstate in the coming days, many districts are facing teacher shortages.

Metro Nashville Public Schools are about 140 teachers short of full staffing, while Williamson County is roughly 50 short. Rutherford County has some shortfalls, as well. (For more updates on this story and free news alerts for your neighborhood, sign up for your local Middle Tennessee Patch morning newsletter.)

In Metro, the openings are primarily in math and special education. Williamson County's shortages are mostly in special ed and foreign language.

“Many of our schools are fully staffed and those that are not will have plans to cover for any teacher position that they’re still needing to fill,” MNPS Communications Director Olivia Brown told WKRN. “No matter how many students we have this year we’ll be ready to receive them.”

MNPS has an average year-to-year teacher retention rate of 80 percent, losing roughly 1,200 teachers annually, with half being first- and second-year educators.

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