TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) — A vast majority of Indiana’s school districts are still struggling to find qualified teachers amid the state’s lingering teacher shortage.

Indiana State University’s annual survey of Hoosier school superintendents shows 91 percent say their districts had a teacher shortage this fall.

That’s slightly better than the 94 percent who reported teacher shortages last fall. But 94 percent of the 220 districts who completed this year’s survey say they continue to struggle to find qualified applicants.

Terry McDaniel is an ISU professor of educational leadership who conducts the survey. He tells The Tribune-Star that Indiana’s teacher shortage remains because its school districts “don’t pay well” and teaching remains a tough job.

McDaniel says some prospective teachers go out-of-state to teach because of difficulties of passing Indiana’s CORE content area assessment exams.