Teacher Need Hits Private Schools Hard

By Catherine Gewertz

It used to be something Ned Fox could count on each year, sure as the seasons: a stack of 600 applications from teachers who wanted to work at Charlotte Latin, the private school he heads in Charlotte, N.C. In the past few years, though, that stack has shrunk to 200.

Mr. Fox used to have no trouble assembling a strong staff by the time the new grass appeared each spring. But with the dwindling pool of first-rate candidates, he says, the hiring process now often stretches into August.

He is hardly alone. All over the country, heads of schools and leaders of private school associations report an ever-lengthening list of teacher vacancies and a...