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Three weeks into the 2025-26 school year, Polk County Public Schools has about 300 teacher vacancies and 490 long-term substitutes, according to district spokesman Kyle Kennedy.
Combined, that’s about 1 in 8 of the district’s 6,200 teaching positions.
Not unusual
This number of teacher vacancies isn’t unusual for Polk County. There were about 330 last year and 311 the year before.
“The number fluctuates by the day,” Kennedy said. “We are sorting some of the data to try and get more accurate counts.”
But Polk’s consistency bucks the trend elsewhere in the state.
Vacancies dropped statewide
The Florida Department of Education announced on July 31 that there was a 17.7% drop in teacher vacancies statewide.
Some counties experienced much larger decreases than others.
Hillsborough County reported 430 openings out of a teacher workforce of about 15,800. That’s 28.3% less than its 600 vacancies last year.
Spokesperson Debra Bellanti credited the district’s recruiting efforts and a millage referendum that Hillsborough County voters approved last year to boost teacher salaries.
Elsewhere in Florida:
- Pinellas County started the school year with 24 teacher openings out of roughly 6,800 instructional positions. That’s a 72.7% decrease from its 88 vacancies last year.
- Orange County had 75 teacher openings out of about 11,400 positions. That’s 59.2% less than its 184 vacancies last year.
- Pasco County had 73 open teaching spots out of about 4,970 positions. That’s 54.1% less than its 159 vacancies last year.
- Manatee County reported 44 teacher openings out of about 3,500 positions. That’s 40.5% less than its 74 vacancies last year.
- Hernando County had 88 unfilled teaching jobs out of about 1,400 positions. That’s 8.6% less than its 96 vacancies last year.
Raising salaries
Local teachers and administrators have said for many years that Polk County needs to raise teacher salaries to be competitive.
The school board has drafted a property tax referendum that it plans to put on the November 2026 ballot.
Voters will be asked to pay one mill — $1 per $1,000 of a home’s taxable value — to raise pay for school-based employees and support programs like fine arts and career education programs.
Recruitment efforts
Polk County has a variety of positions available from pre-kindergarten through high school. But its greatest needs are for exceptional student education (ESE), English, reading, math and science teachers.
It also needs bus drivers, paraprofessionals, behavior interventionists and sports coaches.
Interested?
- To see PCPS job openings, go to the district’s career page.
- There are upcoming virtual job fairs on Sept. 4, Sept. 9 and Oct. 9.
- District recruiters can be reached at jobs@polk-fl.net or 863-534-0781.
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In 8 yrs. the vacanicies have tripled. There are a couple of reasons. Teacher salaries are not competitive with the surrounding school districts.. Polk County has become an unaffordable place to live. Since the pandemic housing prices have increased on average 55% and rents have tripled. If they can’t afford to live in Polk County they will leave. How much has teacher, para-professional, and other school board salaries risen in the last 10 yrs.?? Very little. I know. My wife worked for the school board for 20 yrs. as a para-professional. No way she could’ve lived off her salary unless she was married to me. She loved the kids. Now the school board is asking to increase property taxes to increase teacher salaries. Tough pill to swallow for the taxpayers but needed. What guarantee do we have as taxpayers that 80% of the money will go to teacher salaries? They always find a reason to take some of the money to fund other projects. There has been tremendous growth in Polk County in the last 10 yrs. I and other taxpayers would like to know what has the school board done with the increased taxes??? The teachers truly deserve more money. This should be the #1 priority for the school board. I will bet there are some departments in the school they could cut some funds and use it for teachers, para-professionals, and other school board employees. I bet there is some waste. Finally, all the city-county commissioners should not approve any future development unless the infrastructure is in place at the sametime the develoments are being built to support the growth. Schools being the #1 priority. Currently the attitude is build now and worry about the infrastructure needed.
It is very disappointing to read that so many classrooms don’t have qualified teachers. 1 in 8 teachers are not qualified. Since the current Superintendent has been appointed, the numbers have steadily increased until a slight improvement this year. We rank 59 out of 67 Florida Counties in education. Sadly, if the higher ranked counties are decreasing in achievement, the statical analysis of achievements in Polk County are unacceptable.
Our superintendent has a new five year contract, paying him more money, yet his results are dismal, disappointing & disgraceful. Our students deserve better. In profit making companies, the CEO would be terminated for these results.
Is there waste in our schools? Absolutely. Buying pornographic books for libraries is a waste of funds. Wasting tax dollars to go to court to defend having books that are not only porn but also promote drug use, cheating, & illegal activities are not good choices for schools.
A group of concerned parents & taxpayers could go through the budget & help eliminate waste. I am sure there would be volunteers willing to donate their time for this purpose.
I agree wholeheartedly with Michael Hillman that no newer development should be approved without infrastructure in place first. It seems that both county & city commissioners cannot stop approving building projects. It would be a good idea for those politicians to stop taking political donations from developers.