KANSAS CITY (AP) – New data shows teachers in Missouri’s poorest and most rural schools are less experienced and earn lower salaries than elsewhere in the state.

The data is part of a draft report that Missouri is submitting to the U.S. Education Department amid a federal push to ensure that the least experienced people aren’t disproportionately teaching the neediest students.

Assistant commissioner Paul Katnik says the state’s next step is to work with educators and administrators in the field to analyze the data and come up with strategies for addressing the situation.

He says the challenge is recruiting teachers to the places where they are most needed and retaining them.

The Education Department is asking states to develop plans to make sure every student has an effective teacher.