Our research found no official index of a private school teacher shortage, so the honest answer starts with churn: 11.7% of private school teachers left teaching between 2020–21 and 2021–22, versus 8.0% of public school teachers, per NCES's Teacher Follow-up Survey.
Churn keeps schools hiring, and 2,189 Catholic schools reported admission waitlists in 2025–26.
Here is where the hiring pressure sits, and what it means for your job search.
Where private schools struggle to hire
Start with how anyone would know.
The federal survey behind this page tracks who leaves teaching — stayers, movers and leavers — not which seats sit unfilled.
NCES had published no National Teacher and Principal Survey newer than 2020–21, and no Teacher Follow-up Survey newer than 2021–22, as of October 2026.
So the closest thing to a demand signal is the leaving rate.
In a sector that counted 526,416 teachers by headcount in 2021–22, that rate runs hot.
Between 2020–21 and 2021–22, 11.7% of private school teachers left teaching and another 6.4% moved to a different school, per NCES's Teacher Follow-up Survey.
Public school teachers posted 8.0% and 8.0% in the same survey.
Leaving the profession concentrates in identifiable places.
By affiliation, 13.4% of teachers left teaching at other religious schools, against 10.4% at Catholic schools and 10.6% at nonsectarian schools.
The smallest schools run hot too: at private schools with fewer than 100 students, 16.1% of teachers left teaching.
Age bookends the curve.
Leaver rates ran highest for private school teachers under 30, at 17.0%, and for those 55 or older, at 15.8%.
Subjects are the gap you would expect this page to fill, and the data will not fill it.
The survey tables this page uses do not break private-school turnover out by subject, and our research found no sourced subject-level shortage figures for the private sector.
Ask the schools, dioceses or associations you are targeting which departments are hiring; our research found no national source that publishes that breakdown.
Geography sets the size of the employer pool instead.
The 2021–22 Private School Universe Survey counted 29,727 private K–12 schools, and 10,562 of them (35.5%) were in the South, with 6,928 in the Midwest, 6,370 in the Northeast and 5,867 in the West.
School type sets how the hiring happens.
Religious schools employed 68.1% of private FTE teachers in 2021–22, and 84.9% of private schools enrolled fewer than 300 students — 40.0% enrolled fewer than 50.
At a school that size, one resignation is a department-level event, and the hiring runs through the school's own process rather than a district HR office.
Catholic schools show both demand and consolidation in the newest data available.
NCEA's 2025–26 infographic reports 88% teacher retention, 13 Catholic schools opened and 62 closed or consolidated that year, while 2,189 Catholic schools reported admission waitlists.
For the sector-wide counts behind these figures — schools, teachers, enrollment — the private and charter school industry statistics page keeps the running numbers.
Churn is a proxy, not a shortage index
Why constant turnover helps uncertified and career-changer candidates
Constant replacement hiring widens the door for candidates who are not on the district pipeline.
When 11.7% of a sector's teachers leave the profession in a single year, schools are filling seats every year — and a private school filling one seat runs its own process, on its own criteria.
The faculty data shows the door is real.
In 2020–21, 5.0% of private school teachers did not hold a bachelor's degree — 8.9% in non-Catholic religious schools and 1.8% in Catholic schools — against 0.8% of traditional public school teachers.
That is a survey finding, not a hiring rule.
It shows private-school faculties include teachers whose preparation differs from the traditional public-school profile.
What actually governs certification is state law, school category by school category — accredited, approved, chartered, registered and exempt schools can sit under different rules in the same state.
The state-by-state private school certification requirements guide details them, and the state education agency confirms the current rule for a specific school.
For the career question behind that — how people get hired without a certificate, and at which kinds of schools — see teach at a private school without a certificate.
Part-time work is a second side door.
In 2021–22, 8.4% of private school teachers worked half time to under three-quarter time, and another 6.4% worked under half time — a shape that fits candidates testing the switch while they keep another income.
Early-career hiring is the third.
In 2020–21, 17.4% of private school teachers had three years of teaching experience or less, so the entry-level share of these faculties is substantial.
Faith-based schools add one filter career changers should expect: a faith-alignment expectation can sit alongside subject fit in the hiring criteria.
ACSI, an association of Christian schools, states that all its schools and educators will hold to the ACSI Statement of Faith.
Expectations like that are the association's or the school's own requirement, not a state rule.
If you are switching from another career, the career changers guide covers the transition in depth, and the private school teacher career guide connects this page to the pay, certification and hiring guides around it.
Certification is not one national rule
How charter networks are affected
Charter schools are public schools, so their hiring pressure follows state charter law and state certification routes rather than the private-school rules above.
The same survey caveats apply — our research found no charter-specific vacancy index.
The certification mix shows how charter flexibility actually gets used.
In 2020–21, 75.3% of public charter school teachers held a regular state teaching certificate and 11.5% held none, versus 90.9% and 1.3% among traditional public school teachers.
That is flexibility in use, not a blanket exemption: each state's charter law writes its own rule, and approved waivers and subject rules differ by state.
Charter faculties also skew earlier in career.
Charter school teachers averaged 10.4 years of teaching experience in 2020–21, with 21.1% at three years or less — against 14.5 years and 17.4% for private school teachers.
For a job seeker, that experience skew reads as a signal: early-career candidates are a normal part of charter faculties rather than exceptions.
The charter school certification requirements guide covers what each state's law asks of charter teachers, and the charter school teacher career guide covers the routes in.
What it means for your job search
Turn the data into five concrete moves.
- Watch the small schools. Private schools with fewer than 100 students lost 16.1% of their teachers to the profession in 2021–22, and 84.9% of private schools enrolled fewer than 300 students that year. The sector's openings are spread across many small employers, not concentrated in a few big ones.
- Look where the schools are. The South held 35.5% of private schools in 2021–22, with the Midwest next. A region with more schools is a region with more heads of school who hire.
- Consider part-time and mid-career entries. In 2021–22, 8.4% of private school teachers worked half time to under three-quarter time and 6.4% worked under half time, so part-time postings are a normal shape here — and a way in while you finish a credential or keep current income.
- Take the religious sector seriously. Religious schools employed 68.1% of private FTE teachers in 2021–22. If you target a faith-based school, read its faith requirements first — they are the school's or association's own, and they apply on top of anything the state requires.
- Ask why the seat is open. The most important reasons private school teachers gave for leaving teaching in 2021–22 — personal life factors 45.1%, career factors 19.8%, salary and benefits 14.7% — tell you what to probe in interviews: family realities, career growth and the actual salary scale.
In the Catholic sector, read growth and consolidation together.
NCEA counted 13 Catholic schools opened and 62 closed or consolidated in 2025–26, and 2,189 schools reported admission waitlists.
Catholic school instructional staff numbered 147,849 in 2022–23 — slightly more than the 146,451 in 2019–20, even as the school count fell from 6,183 to 5,920.
A consolidation can move a job between buildings rather than erase it, so ask the diocesan school office how staffing worked in its last round.
Timing is the last lever.
Private schools set their own hiring calendar, and the private school hiring calendar page walks the cycle.
The churn itself is a reason to keep watching between seasons: 6.4% of private school teachers changed schools in a single year, and each of those moves is a seat that opened somewhere.
When you are ready to apply, the how to get a job at a private school guide covers applications, demo lessons and interviews, and the is teaching at a private school a good career evaluation is where to weigh the long-term trade before you commit.
Career information, not legal or certification advice. Requirements differ by state and school type; confirm the current rule with your state education agency.