Montgomery County Public Schools has 127 unfilled full-time teaching positions for the 2025-26 school year, a figure the district credits partly to declining enrollment.

The local number is part of a statewide trend. The Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) announced Oct. 19 that teacher vacancies across the state fell 73.3% over four years, dropping from 2,145 during the 2022-23 school year to 572 this school year. State officials attributed the decline to salary increases, recruitment programs and retention efforts.

MCPS spokesperson Liliana Lopez confirmed the 127-vacancy figure, as first reported by MyMCMedia. The district employs about 14,000 educators, according to MyMCMedia. "This lower figure reflects in part reduced enrollment which increases our ability to reassign current staff to fill open positions," Lopez said.

That enrollment picture is significant for Bethesda families. Superintendent Thomas Taylor told staff in an Oct. 15 message, reported by MoCoShow, that MCPS sits on excess capacity of about 1,000 high school seats, more than 4,700 middle school seats and more than 11,000 elementary seats. Those numbers are expected to grow over the next six years.

The statewide gains were steepest in the most recent year. Vacancies fell 45.3% between the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years alone, according to MSDE. Elementary education vacancies dropped 63.3% in that same period.

State Superintendent Carey Wright said the current vacancy rate has fallen below prepandemic levels, according to WTOP. More than 64,000 educators work in Maryland public schools.

Maryland has also launched new pipeline programs. The Excellence in Maryland Public Schools Act, signed by Gov. Wes Moore, created debt-free pathways to teacher licensure and a registered teaching apprenticeship. Sixteen districts have received Grow Your Own Educators grants totaling $33.7 million, according to MSDE.

The MCPS vacancy figure does not come with a comparison to the district's own post-pandemic peak. The statewide 73.3% decline is a state-level number; how much of that improvement occurred within Montgomery County is unclear from available data.

Taylor's Oct. 15 message also flagged an ongoing closure, consolidation and boundary study driven by the enrollment decline, with staff engagement sessions planned across the district.