California’s Teacher Workforce: What the Latest Data Tells Us About Staffing, Pay, and Equity

The Public Policy Institute of California’s (PPIC) report on Teacher Staffing Trends takes a close look at who is teaching our kids and how school resources are being used. It’s more than just a summary of past studies, it’s grounded in a fresh, quantitative analysis of California’s own education data. The authors dug into important details like teacher pay, years of experience, credentials, and student/teacher ratios, using statewide datasets that reflect what’s really happening in our classrooms. They applied advanced statistical methods to track changes over time and to see how funding reforms (like the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) and pandemic relief dollars) played out differently in high-need districts compared to others.

While the report does bring in outside research for context, its core contribution is the new numbers and insights pulled directly from California schools. Together, these findings provide a clear picture of where we’ve made progress, where inequities remain, and what steps could help ensure every child has a qualified, well-supported teacher. This kind of data-driven, policy-focused research can guide communities, families, and leaders in understanding how our investments in education are shaping opportunities for students across the state. 

Findings from the Study

To make sense of the findings, it helps to know a little about what researchers mean when they say results are “statistically significant.” Statistically significant findings means that the numbers are showing a clear signal, strong enough that we can trust the result is real, while “statistically insignificant” means the evidence isn’t strong enough to be certain. It might look like there’s a pattern, but it could just as easily be chance. In other words, we can’t confidently say it reflects a real effect.

Statistically Insignificant - Areas Where the Numbers Didn’t Show Clear Change

Even with new funding, some areas didn’t show strong shifts in the data. That doesn’t mean the dollars weren’t valuable, it just means the changes weren’t large or consistent enough to stand out as clear signals.

• Class sizes: In higher-need districts, student–teacher ratios barely moved, averaging less than a quarter of a student difference per teacher. In practice, this means classrooms stayed about the same size.
• Teacher experience: The average years of teacher experience held steady. Even with more funding, schools didn’t see big changes in the overall experience level of their teachers.
• Instructional salaries: Spending on instructional salaries didn’t show a noticeable increase in the highest-need districts. In other words, extra resources weren’t clearly going toward boosting teacher pay in these schools.

Statistically Significant - The Clear Signals We Can See in the Data

• More new teachers in our classrooms: We’re seeing a real increase in the number of novice teachers (those just starting out with 1 to 2 years of experience.) This is especially true in schools serving higher-need communities.
• A modest rise in fully credentialed teachers: There’s also been a small but important uptick in the share of teachers who are fully credentialed, bringing more formally trained educators into high-need districts.
• Experience matters for our kids: Consistent with what we already know from years of research, this analysis found that teacher experience shows up as one of the strongest predictors of student success. The biggest learning gains for students happen when teachers have about 3 to 5 years of classroom experience under their belt.

What does it all mean?

Over the past decade, California has invested a lot more money into our schools. Much of this funding went to teacher pay and benefits, and while that’s important, a lot of the new dollars also went toward other staff and services that support students. This shift shows that schools are working to meet the needs of the whole child. Not just in the classroom, but with counselors, aides, and support systems too. Still, many schools are finding it hard to hire and keep enough qualified teachers, especially in subjects like math, science, special education, and bilingual education. These gaps matter, because research shows that teacher experience is one of the strongest factors in helping students succeed. Teachers with three to five years under their belt often make the biggest difference in student learning.

The good news is that most California teachers are fully credentialed, and average teacher pay has gone up. However, when accounting for the adjusted rate of inflation, starting salaries haven’t really improved in 20 years, and that makes it harder to attract new teachers into the profession. In fact, newer teachers now make up the largest share of the workforce in decades.

The Changing Face of California’s Teaching Workforce

We also know that not every student has the same access to well-prepared teachers. In too many of our schools, especially those serving more low-income, Latino, and Black students, there are bigger hurdles to overcome. These schools are more likely to face teacher shortages, rely on staff who are still building their skills, or struggle to keep experienced educators long term. The challenge is especially clear in math and science, where in some schools only about half of the classes are taught by teachers with the right credentials. These gaps remind us how important it is to stand together as a community to make sure every child, no matter their background or zip code, has the chance to learn from a fully supported, highly qualified and experienced teacher.

At the same time, the face of California’s teaching workforce is slowly changing. While most teachers are still white women, the share of Latino and Asian American teachers has grown. That diversity matters, because students often do better when they see themselves reflected in their teachers.

Next Steps: Building and Supporting the Educator Pipeline

So where do we go from here? The report suggests a few steps: raise starting salaries so teaching feels like a strong career choice, focus on schools that are consistently hardest to staff, and keep investing in programs that bring in and keep a diverse pool of educators. Just as important, we need better data so communities can see clearly where help is most needed.

At the core of this report is a simple truth: when we support teachers, we support students. By making sure every classroom has a well-prepared, fairly paid, and caring educator, we give all children the chance to thrive.