A less frequently talked about impact of the Covid pandemic was the rapid decline in the number of new TK-12 teachers earning the credentials needed to enter the classroom. In California, the annual supply of newly credentialed teachers plummeted by 26% between 2021 and 2023.
This could have had a profound and lasting impact on our schools because a qualified, well-prepared teacher is the single most important in-school factor for improving student outcomes, particularly in high-need communities.
But, at about the same time, California policymakers were taking bold action. Then-Assemblymember, now-Speaker Robert Rivas authored a bill to establish the Golden State Teacher Grant. The goal was simple: to provide direct financial assistance to candidates who commit to teaching in our high-priority, low-income schools.
Five years later, the results are in: For the second year in a row, the number of educators earning credentials is rising. Data from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing on teacher supply in California shows that as of 2025, we are finally back to pre-pandemic levels of approximately 20,000 new credentialed teachers annually.
This is not a stroke of luck; it’s a return on investment.
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The pull to pivot back to cheaper shortcuts — like emergency credentials — just to ensure there is an adult in every room is a false, short-term economy. The most recent Getting Down To Facts III review underscores this.
Emergency credentials are a crisis-management tool that only begets more crises, especially when they lead to higher burnout, lower student achievement, and ultimately cost the state more when those teachers leave within 18 months.
Now is the time for districts to take stock and double down on what talent strategies are resulting in a true return on investment. Districts should be strategically using the resources provided by the state’s Local Control Funding Formula and federal funding streams to support effective, sustainable, long-term teacher talent pipelines. But the state has a critical role in supporting the tuition costs of earning a teaching credential, especially for teachers choosing to work in low-income school communities.
California’s policymakers deserve credit for the bold bets of the last five years. They have successfully reversed a destabilizing trend — one where TK-12 students were left without teachers or taught by teachers without credentials.