Nationally, almost 130 primary teacher positions are being advertised, and 176 secondary teachers. However, some of those positions are advertised in both primary and secondary sections.
Russell Brooke, principal of Long Bay College on Auckland's North Shore, said it was a nightmare to find teachers with the right skill-set. It was an issue across all subjects, he said.
He's recruiting as far as England, which not all schools can afford to do.
It was almost impossible to find a teacher who is up to speed with the modern adolescent, is technologically savvy and can teach to scholarship level, Brooke said.
Secondary Principals' Association of New Zealand (SPANZ) president Sandy Pasley said most schools were struggling to find skilled teachers.
A big factor was the cost of living in Auckland, she said.
The city's "ridiculous" house prices have already forced a number of teachers out, with three young science teachers from Mt Albert Grammar in central Auckland fleeing the city at the end of the last school year blaming the cost of buying a home for their decision to leave.
In December, the Herald reported hundreds of teaching positions were still sitting vacant.
More than 600 teaching jobs were waiting to be filled across the country. Schools were struggling to arrange timetables and classes for the 2017 year.
Nearly 200 of those vacancies were in crucial science and maths jobs - areas that have become increasingly difficult to fill as science, engineering and maths university graduates get picked up by high-paying corporate and private sector companies.
The shortage has already been described as a "potential disaster in the long-term", with schools already "scrambling" to fill science, maths and engineering roles.
