North Carolina school leaders say they had fewer teacher vacancies at the start of this school year, according to a new survey from the North Carolina School Superintendents Association.

Superintendents reported 2,009 teacher vacancies as of Sept. 18, part of 6,265 total employee vacancies. Superintendents reported 2,155 teacher vacancies at the start of the 2025-26 school year and 3,141 teacher vacancies at the start of the 2024-25 school year. They reported 6,210 total employee vacancies at the start of the 2025-26 school year and 8,335 total employee vacancies at the start of the 2024-25 school year.

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"North Carolina school districts have made meaningful progress in reducing teacher vacancies, and that progress reflects the determined work of local leaders and their teams," Jack Hoke, the association's executive director, said in a news release Thursday. "At the same time, more than 6,200 vacancies, particularly the continued need for classified employees and bus drivers, remind us that staffing challenges remain. Every vacancy affects a school community, and districts need sustained support to recruit, prepare, and retain the people who serve students each day."

The North Carolina School Superintendents Association has issued the report each fall for several years, as school leaders have grown more concerned about vacancies, teacher turnover, and hiring challenges. It surveys all 115 public school systems in the state and doesn't include data from charter schools or private schools. It's not broken down by school district.

Teacher turnover has somewhat stabilized in the past couple of years, and districts have reported more success in hiring in recent years, while also relying more on hiring teachers without education degrees. The Wake County Public School System reported having more than 98% of its teaching positions filled this fall.

When turnover peaked in 2023, teachers and experts pointed to low pay, negativity surrounding the profession, and job stress, particularly for less-experienced teachers. Pay has risen since then, and the state recently expanded a teacher leadership program that could trickle down into more support for younger teachers.

Part of the more drastic changes since the 2024-25 school year comes from a decline in the number of positions in the state's 115 school districts. Many districts have cut positions as their school populations have shrunk and because temporary federal pandemic stimulus dollars ran out.

In one more extreme case, Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools cut 343 positions last school year, most of them in special education.

While the number of special education teacher vacancies statewide dropped by 64 vacancies from last year to this year, it's unclear how much of that could be related to those or other cuts.

The survey data show North Carolina schools are also using more teachers with alternative licenses, a trend that's been observed in North Carolina Department of Public Instruction data in recent years. Those are issued to people without teaching degrees and are limited to no more than one to three years. Turnover is often high among those teachers, nearly half of whom don't end up getting a renewable license once their temporary, alternative one expires.

Superintendents reported having 5,459 teachers with a residency license, which is one of those license types, though the NCSSA noted some superintendents included other alternative licenses in their reports.