Sunday, February 13, 2022

Texas schools are majority Hispanic. There’s been a shortage of bilingual teachers since 1990, and the pandemic made it worse.

Concerning teacher pay in Texas, what a sad state of affairs, particularly since our teachers are frontline workers, now more than ever, in the context of the pandemic: 

"The average pay for teachers has not increased between 2010 and 2019; it instead decreased from $55,433 to $54,192, according to the report."

This is critical considering two polls, one by the Charles Butt Foundation and another by the Texas American Federation of Teachers find that 68 percent and 66 percent of educators, respectively have recently seriously considered getting out of the profession altogether.

Yes, this has been festering, however, the situation IS amenable to policy solutions, beginning at the district level, I would say, with incentivizing the teaching of bilingual education, as well as other shortage areas. Over a million children in Texas are bilingual learners such that addressing their needs is essential. 

We're in the interim period right now, with the January, 2023 88th session of the Texas State Legislature rapidly approaching. Now is the time for our advocacy community, including parents, and coalitions of conscience, to make plans to address our state's critical teacher shortage.

-Angela Valenzuela


Additional Reading:


Carver-Thomas, D. (2022). Teacher Shortages Take Center StageLearning Policy Institute

Carver-Thomas, D., Burns, D., Leung, M. & Ondrasek, N. (2022). Teacher Shortages During the Pandemic: How California Districts Are RespondingLearning Policy Institute



The pandemic is driving educators away from the profession, including key areas such as bilingual education.

 

The pre-pandemic teacher shortage 

The bilingual teacher shortage

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