In California, the number of people entering teacher preparation programs dropped by more than 55 percent from 2008 to 2012, according to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. Nationally, the drop was 30 percent from 2010 to 2014, according to federal data. Alternative programs like Teach for America, which will place about 4,000 teachers in schools across the country this fall, have also experienced recruitment problems.

Interesting read about the scope of the shortage and what districts are doing to cope (hiring pre-credentialed teachers, recruiting abroad for bilingual teachers, etc). The article talks about the economic crisis causing many prospective teachers to second guess taking on any debt to get certified for a career with a low-to-middling salary, but I'm a little disappointed that anti-teacher political rhetoric, teacher evaluation schemes, and other issues facing education weren't brought up.