States often lack timely, specific information about where teachers are needed the most. This information gap is compounded by the way public schools typically pay teachers--based on experience and academic credentials rather than supply and demand conditions--which sends weak signals to potential teachers about which positions are most in-demand and hard to fill. This brief describes how school district job postings can help state leaders better understand where teachers are needed the most and provides the kinds of questions about teacher demand that state leaders need to answer to design targeted workforce policies. The authors argue that data from state longitudinal data systems (SLDS) often fall short of capturing real-time market demand and emerging shortage patterns and illustrate the potential of real-time job posting data to inform more responsive, evidence-based workforce policies and to send clearer signals to teachers about their prospects in the job market.