Very Difficult to Fill Teacher Vacancies

Rural districts had a more difficult time than nonrural districts hiring teachers in 7 out of 12 subjects examined by the National Center for Education Statistics. In 2003-2004, a higher percentage of rural schools reported it was very difficult to hire teachers in:

1. English as a second language (37.5%)
   
2. Foreign languages (35.2%)
   
3. Physical sciences (27.4%)
   
4. Special education (27.0%)
   
5. Music or art (20.5%)
   
6. Computer science (17.7%)
   
7. English/language arts (10.9%)
   

The statistics were reported in the Status of Education in Rural America, Table 3.11.