Charter schools aren’t just facing a staffing challenge—they’re in a full-blown hiring crisis.
While school leaders scramble to fill open roles, most of the focus stays on job boards, teacher pipelines, and retention bonuses. But let’s reframe that. This isn’t just an HR problem—it’s a marketing problem.
Right now, 74% of public schools are struggling to hire certified teachers. That’s not just a data point. That’s a warning sign. The schools that rise above the noise will be the ones that show up differently—and digitally.
Marketing can’t stop at student recruitment. Not anymore. Your ability to attract the right educators depends on the same strategies you use to enroll the right families. If your brand doesn't show your culture, values, and mission in a way that’s visible online, you're not just behind—you’re invisible.
Let’s talk about how digital marketing can help your school compete—and hire—the way it was built to keep.
Families aren’t the only ones researching your school online. Job candidates are, too. Before they submit an application or schedule a phone call, they’re on your website, your Instagram feed, your Facebook reviews. If they don’t like what they see—or worse, can’t find anything at all—they’re moving on.
Educators want to work somewhere they believe in. Somewhere with a mission, a sense of community, and a visible commitment to student success. Your digital marketing is how you tell that story. When done right, it gives prospective teachers a window into what it’s like to work at your school and whether they belong there.
Let’s be honest—most school careers pages are an afterthought. A static list of job titles with a generic form. That’s a missed opportunity.
Your careers page should function like a high-converting landing page. It should be written for humans, not just HR systems. Start with your mission and what makes your school different. Add testimonials from current staff. Highlight your professional development approach and showcase photos or short videos of your team in action. Make sure it’s mobile-friendly and optimized with search terms like “teaching jobs in [city]” or “charter school jobs.”
This page is where a lot of top talent makes their decision. Treat it with the same attention you give your enrollment page.
You don’t need to build a flashy recruitment campaign—just show what’s already happening. Highlight classroom wins, teacher appreciation shoutouts, PD days, and moments of joy. Educators want to see a workplace that values them, not just one that says it does.
This is also where your current team can help. Encourage staff to share their own moments and tag your school. Build a culture that’s worth showing off, then give people a reason to talk about it.
We’ve talked about this approach before in our guide to leveraging parent advocacy to boost enrollment—it applies to staff, too.
Think of your job openings like events. If you had an open house, you’d run digital ads, post on social, send emails, and maybe even create a landing page. Why not do the same for roles you’re trying to fill?
Facebook and Instagram ads work well for local targeting. You can zero in on educators in your city or district, segment by interests (like education, SEL, or STEM), and promote your openings with clear, compelling visuals. For hard-to-fill roles—think SPED, bilingual educators, or STEM—you might consider using Google Search ads to reach candidates actively searching.
Strong calls to action matter. “Join our mission” will outperform “Now hiring.”
If someone expresses interest in working at your school—even if the timing’s not right—you should be nurturing them. Build a segmented email list of interested candidates, past applicants, and local educators. Then create simple workflows that share culture updates, teacher spotlights, staff events, and future job openings.
Use your email strategy to keep your school top-of-mind. And don’t stop after the hire. Your internal culture campaigns should reinforce the same values you use to attract staff in the first place.
If you’re not measuring your recruitment funnel, you’re flying blind. Start by tracking where your applicants come from—email, social, Google search, referrals. Then compare it to your strongest hires. What sources bring in mission-fit teachers who stay?
This is where a CRM like HubSpot can support both your enrollment and hiring pipeline. When you use marketing automation to track form fills, ad clicks, and conversions, you gain insight into what’s actually working—and what’s not.
We go deeper on this in our post on creating a winning enrollment strategy with data. The same principles apply here.
The staffing crisis isn’t going anywhere. But here’s the upside: most schools aren’t applying the same intentionality to recruitment that they bring to enrollment. That’s your opportunity.
When you use digital marketing to attract the right educators, you’re not just solving a hiring problem—you’re strengthening your entire school experience. And the right staff doesn’t just fill classrooms. They inspire families to enroll, stay, and advocate.
If you want to elevate your school’s enrollment strategy, start by building the team that brings it to life.