CMS reveals teacher, bus driver vacancies on 1st day. They’re improving
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- CMS reported 209 teacher vacancies on day one, down from 293 last year.
- Bus driver shortages persist, but CMS expects no major delays to routes.
- Teacher attrition in NC dropped to 9.88% in 2023-24, reversing recent increases.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools had 209 teacher vacancies as the school year began Monday, with the greatest need for elementary and Exceptional Children educators, district leaders say.
The district has filled 19 classroom vacancies since this time last week and currently has a fill rate of 97.8%, CMS Chief Human Resources Officer Kecia Coln told reporters Monday afternoon. This time last year, the district started classes with 293 teacher vacancies. At the start of the 2023-24 school year, CMS was short more than 500 teachers.
One factor in the number of vacancies: CMS in April announced it would eliminate 40 vacant positions across the district for the 2025-26 school year as a cost-saving measure due to the expiration of federal COVID relief funds. As a result, some educators had to shift into new roles.
Meanwhile, there are still 98 bus driver vacancies, though CMS Chief Operations Officer Tim Ivey said the district “has gotten very skilled at covering all routes,” and he “doesn’t anticipate any delays.”
Teacher attrition, the rate at which teachers leave for other jobs, declined slightly in North Carolina during the 2023-24 school year — to 9.88% from 11.5% in the 2022-23 school year. That represents about 1,500 fewer full-time teachers lost statewide. However, it remains higher than it has historically been, according to state data.
Attrition data from the 2024-25 school year is not yet available.
