Teacher shortages are a longstanding problem. Does the state have the info to find a solution?

For years, New Mexico has struggled with having enough teachers to educate all its students.

But although the state gets a report once a year from one of its premier research universities about educator shortages, the full scope of the issue isn’t readily visible, an expert with the nonprofit National Council on Teacher Quality told state lawmakers Wednesday.

“Do the most vulnerable students have equitable access to quality, qualified teachers? How many teachers do we need in the next five years?” said Shannon Holston, the council’s chief of policy and programs. “These are just some of the questions that, if we had the answers … could help us allocate resources and make policy at a much more nuanced level than I think we would all like at this point in time.”

Every year, New Mexico State University’s Southwest Outreach Academic Research Evaluation and Policy Center — known as SOAR — publishes a report on educator vacancies, which often serves as New Mexico’s baseline status report for the statewide educator workforce.

According to the 2023 report, released last month, there were about 750 open teacher positions and almost 1,500 total educator vacancies — including educational assistants, counselors and the like — across New Mexico.

But as a tally of all vacancies across the state garnered from school districts’ job postings as of a specific time in the year, usually in September, that report represents only a snapshot of the problem.

And as helpful as it is, Holston pointed out the report also doesn’t report the statewide vacancy rate or the shortages of each specific district.

Legislative Education Study Committee Director Gwen Perea Warniment added it also doesn’t take into account changing workforces — such as whether a district changed the number of staffers it needs.

Nevertheless, the report is all New Mexico has. Rachel Boren, director of the SOAR Evaluation and Policy Center, said the center is “happy to provide this data” in the absence of any other such report.

The New Mexico Public Education Department does not produce such a report, and in an email, department spokesman Nate Williams said the PED largely relies on the SOAR report.

He added that the department typically does send a survey to districts but doesn’t get a 100% response rate, resulting in incomplete data on statewide staffing needs. However, he said the PED is looking into publishing data about staffing issues.

Holston recommended legislative action — akin to changes Colorado made, including a requirement for its education departments to study teacher shortages.

Requiring such reporting seemed to have some traction with some lawmakers, including Sen. William Soules, D-Las Cruces, a licensed teacher.

“Certainly within New Mexico, we could — should — have that data, and available on just the Sunshine (Portal), searchable by students, by districts, by legislators, to know where the gaps are and if there are places we can leverage increasing the needs where they’re most needed,” he said.