Polish education authorities report more than 17,000 job vacancies across schools and educational institutions before the new school year. The largest gaps include preschool teachers, special-education support staff, psychologists and mathematics teachers. Teacher shortages are an especially useful discussion topic because parents, teachers and younger respondents experience the consequences directly. The numbers invite debate about pay, workload, prestige and demographic change. Unlike many political stories, the problem is easy to turn into a constructive policy poll.