HOUSTON – Staffing shortages in the classroom have stumped school districts statewide on ways to retain teachers year-to-year, a challenge the state now hopes to correct.
“Teachers are the single most important school-based factor affecting student outcomes,” said Commissioner of the Texas Education Agency Mike Morath in a news release this month, announcing the creation of the Teacher Vacancy Task Force.
The panel, which is primarily administrators from school districts statewide, includes LaTonya Goffney, superintendent of schools for Aldine ISD.
Their task is to identify challenges that impact teacher retention and identify recommendations for remediation.
Click here for the full announcement.
State education leaders said teacher retention proved a pre-pandemic problem but has worsened over the past two years.
President of the Texas AFT Zeph Capo said teacher pay and added responsibilities during the pandemic have exacerbated the problem.
“We don’t have enough people willing to come back,” Capo said.
Texas AFT, which has a membership of 66,000, initially expressed concerns over a dearth of teachers assigned to the state task force. Criticism from groups statewide resulted in the TEA adding two additional members who are teachers.
Capo said the panel must rely on the experience of those who are on the ground facing the challenges daily.
“The focus really does need to be on retaining people that we actually have in our schools now and make sure that we can build on that,” he said. Two years of COVID-19 has made retaining teachers tough, Capo added, many having to navigate both safety and politics associated with the pandemic. In sum, it’s a test to teach.
“The level of workload that we’ve put onto teachers that’s just been exacerbated over the pandemic.”
Pay proves prime among the problems -- keeping qualified teachers requires a competitive paycheck.
HISD Superintendent Millard House II said Texas’ largest school district has to pay teachers more if they expect them to stay.
“That compensation model is absolutely necessary,” House said, referring to his five-year strategic plan for the school district, proposed last month.
Click here to read House’s five-year plan
SEE ALSO: HISD superintendent introduces 5-year plan to help district overcome challenges
”We have to take the responsibility of growing our own teachers in many instances,” House said. Meantime, Zeph Capo said he’ll be watching to see what the task force concludes.
“The proof will certainly be in the pudding,” he said, adding the daily challenges are too big to ignore if Texas wants to solve its retention problem.
”We can get them there, we can’t keep them in the door long enough to actually build the level of experience we know it takes to be successful long term.”