Hampton Roads has the highest teacher vacancy rate in the state and a newly signed Virginia bill could help address the issue.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact, or ITMC, and several other education bills Monday at Highland Springs High School in Henrico County.
The bill, which passed unanimously in the General Assembly, enters Virginia into the ITMC, which the Department of Defense funds. The compact allows teachers who are licensed in one state to apply for and obtain an equivalent license in another compact member state without submitting additional materials or taking additional coursework.
There are more than a dozen states, including Kentucky, Delaware and Pennsylvania, that are part of the ITMC and four more, including South Carolina, have filed legislation to join.Most Hampton Roads schools fall into the state Department of Education’s Region 2, which has the highest teacher vacancy rate in the state, according to VDOE data. The vacancy rate is calculated by determining the number of vacant positions out of all total positions.
Region 2’s vacancy is 4.6% for the 2025-2026 school year. The state average is about 2.5%. There are about 800 open teacher positions in the region, with the largest gaps being in elementary, special education and Title I positions.
The teacher vacancy rate for the 2025-2026 school year is highest in Hampton City Schools at about 14%;, Franklin City Public Schools at about 12.4%; and Norfolk Public Schools at 10.7%.
A spokesperson for Hampton City Schools, Kellie Goral, said in an email that the state's data does not consider the district's associate teachers who serve in classrooms while working toward licensure. When including those positions, Goral said the district was staffed at about 99.6% at the beginning of the school year.
"Like many school divisions across the Commonwealth and nation, we continue to navigate educator shortages," she said in a statement. "However, Hampton City Schools remains committed to developing sustainable staffing pipelines and supporting employees throughout their professional journey to help ensure students continue receiving high-quality instruction and support."
Southampton County Public Schools has no open positions. Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools has a less than 1% vacancy rate and Northampton County Public Schools has a 1% rate.
There’s been some improvement in closing the gap in recent years. In the 2022-2023 school year, Region 2 had a 6.2% vacancy rate.
The bill is designed to create a streamlined pathway to licensure, remove barriers to obtaining a license in a new state and support the relocation of eligible military spouses. The law and the ITMC also allows for information about investigations and disciplinary information to be shared between partner states. States in the ITMC retain their ability to regulate how teachers are licensed.
In addition to the teacher shortage bill, Spangerger signed other education bills, including one that requires schools to notify parents of a student's course enrollment deadlines and requires schools to have a 10-year capital roadmap.
“We are taking commonsense, bipartisan steps to make it easier for qualified educators to bring their skills to Virginia, reduce the cost of college entrance exams for many students and empower parents to be involved in their child’s course selection,” Spangberger said in a statement Monday after the signing ceremony. “I am proud to join teachers, parents, and students to sign this legislation into law — and I am grateful to legislators for their work to bring these bills to my desk.”
The new bills come in addition to several others Spanberger signed in April. Those bills included updating internet safety education in schools and adopting standardized safety rules.
The Virginia General Assembly is currently in a special session.
The Hampton Roads schools are members of the Hampton Roads Educational Telecommunications Association, which holds WHRO’s license.
