Why is There a Teacher Shortage?

Basically, the number of qualified teachers is declining for the whole country and the vast majority of states for reasons that most teachers already know:
1) Inadequate funding
2) Stagnant compensation
3) Heavier workloads
4) Declining prestige
5) Constant meddling from far-away bureaucrats – this was my addition
6) Polarized political climate of our country

Here is an article from the NY Times that has research to back up the tons of anecdotal evidence from the people that actually do stuff – the teachers!