Over the last few months, media outlets including Axios, CNN, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal have raised the specter that there may be a rise in teachers exiting the profession. The concern is that a post-pandemic private sector boom, combined with relatively low teacher pay and burnout from online teaching, are a combustible mix…

California is experiencing one of its most severe teacher shortages in two decades. Budget cuts and layoffs resulting from the recession contributed to a steep decline in the number of teachers in California, falling from a high of 310,362 teachers in the 2007-08 school year to 283,836 four years later. Recent efforts, including Proposition 30 and…

California, like many states, is experiencing significant challenges with teacher staffing. Numerous headlines over the last few years highlight the difficulties that the state faces in developing, recruiting, and, ultimately, hiring enough teachers (Blume, 2016; Apodaca, 2017; Calefati, 2017; Carver-Thomas & Darling-Hammond, 2017; Times…

The question of whether school choice improves student outcomes persists. This digest explores issues surrounding school choice, highlighting major research findings. Overall, the ultimate impact of choice depends on how parents and schools respond to more schooling options and greater competition. Research indicates that greater parental…