Generally, the greatest shortage of teachers exists in larger cities- New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia. Teacher shortages are particularly acute in urban areas. Teaching in these under-resourced schools can be more challenging because many schools lack basic resources, like up-to-date textbooks and facilities. The nation has recently been hiring teachers at a rate of two million new teachers per decade, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The scarcity of qualified teachers, especially in central city public schools has led to a situation in which the nation's most challenging classrooms get the least qualified teachers. There are teacher shortages in central city public schools in the U.S. for many reasons; such as lack of interest in subject areas, discipline problems, and teacher salaries. .
The first cause of teacher shortages is the unwillingness of teachers to teach challenging classes. There is a critical shortage of bilingual teachers throughout the United States. It is estimated that ten percent of students have limited English proficiency and need the services of a bilingual teacher. According to the Urban Teacher Challenge: Teacher Demand and Supply in the Great City Schools, 73 percent of the urban districts surveyed have an immediate need for bilingual teachers. Special education is also an area in which there is a great shortage. Nearly all the urban districts surveyed that 97 percent have an immediate demand for special educators. Mathematics and science are yet other areas suffering from teacher shortages. There is a 95 percent demand for mathematics teachers and a 98 percent demand for science teachers, according to the Urban Teacher Challenge. These four subject areas require extra time and effort to teach which is a contributing factor to the large shortage.
Another cause is that student discipline problems are getting worse and worse as the years go on.
