Teaching vacancies drop as Virginia pays teachers more: VDOE

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Teaching vacancies in Virginia have decreased for the third year in a row as educators get paid more across the Commonwealth, per the Virginia Department of Education (VDOE).

The VDOE on Wednesday, Dec. 10, announced updates from its ongoing efforts to reduce vacant teaching positions in the state and strengthen the educator workforce.

According to VDOE data, statewide teacher vacancies saw a 35.9% decrease from 2023 to 2025. That's a drop from 3.9% to 2.5%.

For Superintendent District 1, which covers central Virginia, the vacancy rate decreased 26.7% during the same period, dropping from 5.6% in 2023-24 to 4.1% in 2025-26. There are currently 575 unfilled positions out of 13,930 teacher positions in the district, per the VDOE dashboard.

VDOE said the decrease is the result of expanded licensure pathways, financial investment and compensation and school climate assessments.

In contrast, teacher salaries have been on the rise over the past four years. Between fiscal years 2022 and 2026, teacher salary raises increased by 18%, averaging a 4.3% annual salary increase.

Central Virginia saw a 25.02% compensation increase during the period.

In 2022, Gov. Glenn Youngkin issued an executive order outlining actions to address statewide teacher shortages. Between fiscal years 2023 and 2025, about $48 million was invested in state and federal grant funding to support teacher preparation and retention, per VDOE.

Click here to see the findings.