Teacher vacancies at the lowest in a decade

Dallas ISD started the 2025-2026 school year with its lowest first-day teacher vacancy count in a decade—only 59 positions remaining to be filled. This resulted in an impressive 99.4% teacher fill rate for the first day of school. 

This record-breaking achievement is attributed to the continuous, effective, and multifaceted teacher recruitment and talent management strategies implemented by Human Capital Management, in close collaboration with School Leadership, said Chief of HCM Robert Abel. These efforts have generated approximately 12,000 teacher applications, significantly expanding the talent pool and enabling principals to select the best candidates for our students and campuses.

Human Capital Management is actively continuing to source candidates for the remaining openings, leveraging the substitute teacher pool to support campus needs and partnering with Academic Services to ensure all campuses with vacant positions receive comprehensive support. 

Superintendent Stephanie S. Elizalde often has pointed to teacher retention and recruitment as one of the reasons for increased student achievement. 

“Let’s remember where we buried our treasure. We are a leader in pay for performance, and the data show that we retain our most effective teachers at a rate that other districts envy,” she said during a recent Board of Trustee meeting discussing early results of the State of Texas Assessments for Academic Readiness.

Historical first day teacher vacancy rates by school year are reflected in the chart below: