The Philadelphia School District is having trouble finding and retaining enough teachers this year.

Philly.com reports that as of last weeks, the district had 162 teaching vacancies - up from 107 at this point last year, and 39 in January 2014.

The vacancies represent about 2 percent of the more than 8,000 teaching positions in the 218-school system. Beyond the statistics, the vacancies rob students of continuity and, in some cases, high-quality instruction for months at a time.

Philadelphia has hired 1,050 new teachers since July. But it has also seen considerable turnover. Candidates may be turned off by the district's ongoing contract dispute and financial crisis.