New federal data shows that the majority of the country’s public K–12 schools had difficulty hiring fully-certified teachers heading into the current academic year — and Indiana districts are not immune to vacancies.

Officials at nearly 75% of public schools nationwide said they had trouble filling one or more vacant teaching positions before kicking off the 2024-25 school year, according to a survey study released by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics.

The School Pulse Panel data published by NCES showed one-fifth of vacant teacher positions remained unfilled at the start of this school year — with many ongoing vacancies. As of Thursday, the Indiana Department of Education’s job board listed more than 1,300 available educator jobs statewide.

That’s an improvement from earlier this year. As of June, there were more than 2,200 vacancies for teaching positions statewide and nearly 1,000 openings for other jobs within school districts.

It’s a hopeful drop, too, compared to in 2022, when — not long after the COVID-19 pandemic — IDOE’s job board listed 4,200 open jobs within Indiana schools. More than 2,500 of the open positions posted were teaching jobs.

But many openings remain. Most of the unfilled positions in Indiana are for elementary, early childhood and special education positions. 

The NCES data, collected in August, came from 1,392 participating public K–12 schools from every state and the District of Columbia. NCES did not release state-by-state numbers, however, instead releasing only aggregate country-wide results.

Areas with the most vacancies

On average, public schools reported having six open teacher positions before the start of the current academic year. By the first day of school, 79% of those positions were filled, according to NCES. 

National survey results indicated that general elementary teaching positions, special education and English language arts positions were among the most commonly cited by public schools as having at least one teaching position to fill prior to the start of this school year. Special education remained the most difficult teaching position to hire for this year.

In the Hoosier state, 1,370 teaching positions were listed on IDOE’s jobs board as of Thursday. More than 2,600 school openings were available, overall.

A breakdown of specific teaching vacancies included:

• 15 in alternative education
• 23 in arts
• 25 in career and technical education
• 332 in early childhood
• 234 in elementary education
• 36 in ENL/ESL
• 33 in foreign language
• 58 in language arts
• 8 in library
• 77 in mathematics
• 25 in music
• 25 in physical education
• 77 in science
• 39 in social studies
• 286 in special education – 286
• 369 in other teaching positions

Why vacancies persist 

Compared to the national estimate, public schools with a student body made up of less than 25% students of color reported filling a higher percentage of vacancies with fully certified teachers, per the NCES survey.

Schools with a student body made up of more than 75% students of color, as well as those in high-poverty neighborhoods, reported more vacancies.

Teacher shortages — especially in certain subject areas, like English-as-a-second-language classes and special education — have been particularly challenging for schools since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the NCES report. 

Teaching salaries have also largely failed to keep up with inflation, and teachers’ morale declined following the pandemic. National experts cited increased issues with student behavior and a rise in mental health problems as contributing factors, too.

Still, the NCES survey results also noted that 64% of schools said “an overall lack of qualified candidates” and “too few candidates” applying for open positions were the top challenges in finding teachers to fill vacancies.

Compared to years past, though, the percentage of schools saying candidates felt like salary and benefits were not enough dropped for both teaching and non-teaching staff.

Indiana’s latest teacher compensation report revealed that Hoosier teachers’ average annual pay exceeded $60,000 for the 2023-24 academic year — a new high for pay. 

The average teacher salary in Indiana during the last school year was recorded at $60,557 — up from $58,531 the year prior — and nearly all Hoosier school districts gave teachers a raise. But many teachers in the state — especially those with little to no experience — still make less.

IDOE has targeted teacher recruitment with multiple grants and other programming to increase the number of Indiana teachers and cut down on lingering vacancies, including the I-SEAL program — run by the University of Indianapolis’ Center of Excellence in Leadership of Learning — that allows current teachers, including those on emergency permits, to get fully licensed in special education at no cost.

More than 1,100 teachers have enrolled in the program, and nearly 600 have completed it since its inception in 2021.

Nearly 3,600 new-to-teaching hires were also brought into schools during 2023-24, according to the most recent state data.

Separately, 4,464 full-time teachers who already had classroom experience were hired by districts across the state.

Indiana numbers further showed 55,971 teachers were retained in 2023-24 from the previous year. That’s compared to 55,227, the year before. There were 55,682 teachers who stayed in classrooms in 2021-22, and 56,999 in 2020-21.

Additionally, an education plan released by Republican governor-elect Mike Braun called for raises to Hoosier teachers’ base salaries, and “guaranteed” professional benefits like new parent leave, as well as improved health insurance options.

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — According to a new forecast by the Indiana University Kelley School of Business, the Indiana economy is on a sustainable path to growth.

Experts put together an economic outlook for 2025 that said 2024 had stronger than expected output, and considering the stronger output and improvements in inflation, Indiana is on track to “return to equilibrium” in 2025.

Phil Powell, an IU Kelley School of Business economist, contributed to the report.

“We are forecasting a pretty strong economy in 2025 for the nation,” Powell said. “And our state is going to perform better than the rest of the country.”

Powell says Indiana is projected to do well thanks to new business sector growth.

“So, with interest rates coming down, this is helping manufacturing in Indiana, and that’s going to disproportionately drive our growth relative to the rest of the nation,” Powell said.

Powell said his research has not shown a correlation between what political party is in the White House and economic growth.

“When you look at the history of economic performance in the United States, there is really no statistically significant difference in who is in office,” Powell said. “So, when we build our economic forecasting models, it’s independent of who is going to win and lose an election.”

The lower cost of living fueling consumer purchases also helps Indiana’s economic growth.

Brian Vander Schee, an IU Kelley School of Business marketing professor, contributed to the report.

“We’ve seen that there have been personal savings or an accumulation of wealth kinda saved up as a post-Covid period, but people continue spending as consumers, which helps the economy continue to grow, and we project that will continue into the new year,” Vander Schee said.

The Kelley School of Business will publish a detailed report of its 2025 economic outlook in December.
You can find that infomration in the Indiana Business Review.

For now, you can find more information about the report here.

In Week 11 college football odds, the major players are once again SEC teams. But if you want the closest thing to a sure thing this season, then you should look to the Big Ten.

And I don’t mean Oregon or Ohio State or Penn State. Indiana is a perfect 9-0 straight up (SU) and a nation-leading 8-1 against the spread (ATS).

“I compare this Indiana team to TCU from two years ago. Every week, we see sharp action going against the Hoosiers, and they keep covering,” Caesars Sports head of football trading Joey Feazel said.

Bookmakers and sharp bettors serve up their insights on Michigan vs. Indiana odds and more, in this week’s college football betting nuggets.

Hoosier Favorite?

Indiana is battering opponents on the field and beating up bookmakers off it. The closest games for the Hoosiers this season were two 14-point home victories: 42-28 vs. Maryland and 31-17 vs. Washington.

Last weekend, the Hoosiers were 7.5-point favorites at Michigan State and spotted the Spartans a 10-0 lead. Then Indiana scored the game’s final 47 points to win 47-10.

In college football Week 11 odds, Caesars opened the Hoosiers as 14-point home favorites vs. defending national champion Michigan. How odd does that sound? Yet as of Wednesday night, bettors had pushed Indiana up to -15 for Saturday’s 3:30 p.m. ET kickoff.

“They’re a public darling now. They just get stuff done. Really impressive,” Feazel said of the Hoosiers. “To no one’s surprise, we’re taking more Indiana money this week.

“I would not be surprised if we see Michigan money come game day, from the sharp crowd. They’re gonna bet against Indiana until they get it right. But we’ll bet a lot of Indiana money on game day, too. Indiana is a big public side.” 

College Football Rocks On FOX

Perhaps surprisingly, Colorado is on a run and in contention for the Big 12 title. Which means Coach Prime & Co. are in the conversation to make the 12-team College Football Playoff.

This week’s Big Noon Kickoff travels to Lubbock, Texas, for a key clash between Colorado and Texas Tech. The pregame team will do its thing from 9 a.m.-noon ET, followed by a cushion before a 4 p.m. ET kickoff (while you’re waiting for that kickoff, take in Purdue vs. Ohio State at noon ET on FOX).

DraftKings Sportsbook opened Colorado (6-2 SU and ATS) as a 3.5-point favorite vs. Texas Tech (6-3 SU/5-3-1 ATS). The Buffaloes spent some time at -3 on Sunday and Monday before returning to -3.5.

Colorado is getting the majority of point-spread play at DraftKings, landing 78% of bets and 57% of money. Plenty of customers are bypassing the point spread and just taking Colorado to win the game on the moneyline, where the Buffs are taking a hefty 87% of bets and 60% of money.

And that’s as of Wednesday night. By kickoff Saturday, DK and likely most other sportsbooks will be big Red Raiders fans.

Is Shedeur Sanders ready for the NFL?

On-Campus Sharp Side

Last week, college football betting expert Paul Stone took Vanderbilt as a 7-point underdog at Auburn. And the Commodores (6-3 SU/7-2 ATS), having a season for the ages, won outright 17-7.

In college football Week 11 odds, Stone is looking for a bounce-back effort from Iowa State. In Week 10, the Cyclones were 14-point home favorites vs. aforementioned Texas Tech and lost outright 23-22.

Next up for Iowa State (7-1 SU/5-3 ATS) is a semi-neutral-site game vs. Kansas at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Even though the Jayhawks are just 2-6 SU and ATS, Iowa State is only a 3-point favorite. As Stone pointed out, that’s because Kansas has five losses this season by six or fewer points.

But Stone expects a solid effort from the Cyclones, who are in the thick of the Big 12 title chase and an automatic CFP berth.

“Coach Matt Campbell’s teams have responded well off a loss since he took over back in 2016,” Stone said. “In fact, the Cyclones are 27-14-1 ATS off a straight-up loss during Campbell’s time in Ames. With its back firmly against the wall, I expect Iowa State to fire its best shot Saturday against Kansas.”

Stone also expects plenty of Cyclones fans on hand to offset the Jayhawks crowd, which has a much shorter trip to the game.

“Iowa State fans love to travel to Kansas City, so I believe Iowa State will have at least an equal number of fans as Kansas,” Stone added. “I believe the Cyclones will cover the 3-point spread and keep their playoff hopes alive.”

CFB Week 11: Georgia vs. Ole Miss best bets, predictions & odds

SEC Showdowns

Feazel also chimed in on arguably the two biggest games in Week 11 college football odds: No. 11 Alabama vs. No. 15 LSU, and No. 3 Georgia vs. No. 16 Ole Miss.

Both Alabama (6-2 SU/4-4 ATS) and LSU (6-2 SU/3-5 ATS) need wins to stay in the 12-team CFP conversation.

“Whoever loses will have three losses and will have to rely on the spin cycle to get into the CFP,” Feazel said. “We opened Alabama -2.5 and quickly went to -3. The number is probably gonna stick around here.”

While early Alabama action helped push the point spread up, Feazel is prepared to see plenty of LSU money by Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. ET kickoff.

“I expect two-way action by game time, because we have a big customer base in Louisiana,” he said. “It’s a night game in Death Valley. I’ll expect to see some angle shooters coming in on the Tigers.”

At 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Georgia (7-1 SU/2-6 ATS) visits Ole Miss (7-2 SU/6-3 ATS). The Bulldogs opened -2.5 and stood at -3 (-105) on Wednesday night. The underdog Rebels also can ill afford another loss.

“This game is their season,” Feazel said of the Rebels. “Money-wise, there’s a little bit more on Georgia, and that’s probably what we’ll continue to see.”

Kansas vs. Iowa State, UCLA vs. Iowa: CFB Week 11 Best Bets

I Like Big Bets And I Cannot Lie

By late Wednesday night, there wasn’t much to report in the way of major wagers on college football Week 10 odds. In fact, the only five-figure play that Caesars noted was for $12,273 on James Madison -16.5 vs. Georgia State.

If the host Dukes cover, then the bettor wins $11,157, for a total payout of $23,430.

Patrick Everson is a sports betting analyst for FOX Sports and senior reporter for VegasInsider.com. He is a distinguished journalist in the national sports betting space. He’s based in Las Vegas, where he enjoys golfing in 110-degree heat. Follow him on Twitter: @PatrickE_Vegas

Want great stories delivered right to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports account, and follow leagues, teams and players to receive a personalized newsletter daily!

Get more from College Football Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more