Abstract This article summarizes a study on elementary and secondary teacher shortages and teacher turnover in rural schools, comparing rural schools to suburban and urban schools. The study utilizes an organizational theoretical perspective focusing on the role of school organization and leadership in the causes of, and solutions to, teacher shortages and staffing problems. The analyses document that, contrast to urban and suburban schools, the student population and teaching force in rural schools has dramatically shrunk in recent decades, that despite this decrease in students, and demand for teachers, rural schools have faced serious difficulties filling their teaching positions, and that these teacher staffing problems are driven by high levels of preretirement teacher turnover. Moreover, the data document that teacher turnover varies greatly between different kinds of schools, is especially high in highpoverty rural schools, and is closely tied to the organizational characteristics and working conditions of rural schools.