In public school districts across the country, as beloved teachers retire each year, fresh-out-of-college neophytes take their place. Or at least, that’s how it’s supposed to go. In Virginia, however, that new crop of teachers is failing to materialize.

There are now more teachers leaving the workforce than those who are becoming licensed, according to a Virginia government report. Before the current school year, 10,900 teachers called it quits, with just 7,200 newly licensed teachers taking their place. And this isn’t because of an aging workforce: Prior to the pandemic, an average of 58% who left the teaching profession did so not to retire, but to pursue other opportunities. Now, that number is 65%.