Julie Silverman:

The total number of teachers employed in Oregon’s public schools in the 2021-2022 school year hit an all-time high, even as the number of enrolled students dropped precipitously, to its lowest level in nearly two decades.

That’s according to the Oregon Department of Education’s annual statewide “report card,” released Thursday, which offers a broad overview of education data and trends.

Overall, there were 32,836 teachers in Oregon public school classrooms in the ‘21-22 school year, or 1,508 more educators than in the 2017-2018 academic year, according to counts of full-time equivalent positions. That was the case even though there were 27,672 fewer students enrolled statewide last school year than five years ago.