This blog on Texas education contains posts on higher education, as well as preK-12 policy accountability, testing, bilingual education, immigration, school finance, race, class, and gender issues at both the state and national level. It also represents my digital footprint, of life and career, as a community-engaged scholar in Texas.
We are in a definite teacher retention crisis in our state and nation. This piece is very informative on one of the Dallas Independent School District's creative approaches to addressing this shortage.
Some number get hired with a J1 visa. Others with a H-1B visa. Via the former route, learn more here about the J-1 Teacher Program that other districts should know about.
Dallas ISD will hire about 100 professionals from Mexico and Colombia to teach during the 2023-24 school year and alleviate its shortage of teachers.
“We are bringing in the best candidates from Mexico and Colombia to teach our students, which is the most important thing, [and we’re] providing quality educators to our students,” said DISD recruiter Eric Castañeda.
The new educators were recruited at events in late October in Monterrey, Mexico, and in mid-November in Bogotá, Colombia.
Castañeda said hard-to-fill teaching positions in math and science sparked a lot of interest from foreign professionals.
More than 220 people attended the recruiting sessions on Oct. 28-29, in Monterrey. About 80 candidates were interviewed.
The possibility to teach in Dallas generated similar interest in the Bogotá event, held on Nov. 10-13, Castañeda said.
About 71% of the district’s students are Hispanic.
New teachers could make $60,000 annually, about 1.26 million pesos in Mexico, and 290 million pesos in Colombia.
Additionally, bilingual teachers get a $5,000 signing bonus; math, science and special education teachers get a $3,000 bonus.
The teachers selected during international recruiting trips have until Jan. 15, to submit certifications and approve an English proficiency exam as a requirement for getting hired.
Soon after, the district will determine the exact number of teachers hired with either a J1 or H-1B visa. The J-1 Teacher Program is a nonimmigrant cultural exchange program. The H-1B is a visa issued to foreign professionals in specialty occupations. The visas authorize professionals to work in the U.S. for up to six years.
The school district has 50 spots for J1 visas and 50 for H-1B visas to start classes in August 2023.
According to Castañeda, most professional candidates interested in teaching in Dallas are between the ages of 30 to 45, some are career educators, but other applicants are engineers and retired physicians, which fit into the profile of teaching positions DISD struggles to find teachers for —mathematics, physics and chemistry.
“Sometimes people think we bring unqualified teachers, but I can say that these candidates are excellent. They master English as if they were from the U.S. They are very accomplished, hardworking professionals”, Castañeda said.
José Luis Adriano, Reporter. Reportero de Al Día Dallas / Reporter at The Dallas Morning News. Originario de Ciudad de México. Le interesan la cultura latina, la tecnología y las historias locales. / Jose was born in Mexico City and just completed is MA in Data Journalism at the University of Missouri. He's interested in local journalism and technology.
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 theCharles 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.
Many of the students in Mariela Ehlers’ classroom spoke primarily Spanish at home. As a bilingual teacher at Harlingen Consolidated Independent School District, it was her job to teach them both English and Spanish.
But when she looked at these children, she saw herself. She was the kid who spoke only Spanish at home before starting school.
As a bilingual teacher, she often had to work double duty. She would send out parent newsletters in both English and Spanish, pay for students’ field trips and maintain constant communication with parents about their child’s education.
But at 50, coming off the straining COVID-19 pandemic, she retired last summer.
“I felt exhausted,” she said.
Over the course of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, teachers have left the profession citing burnout and health concerns — adding to Texas’ ongoing teacher shortage. Two new surveys show an increase in dissatisfaction with pay, workload, health and safety.
It’s a problem across the board, but in a state that is 39% Hispanic, one area is hit particularly hard: locating and retaining teachers who speak both Spanish and English.
There are over 1 million English learners in Texas, according to the Texas Education Agency, and Hispanics make up more than half of the state’s student population.
In the past decade, years before the pandemic hit, Texas was struggling to find teachers and has consistently struggled to fill bilingual teacher positions since the 1990-1991 academic school year, according to a recent University of Houston report.
From 2010 to 2019, the number of teachers certified fell by about 20%, according to the report. Between 2010 and 2019, the number of bilingual certifications stayed steady with an average of about 4,000 a year, but administrators find it difficult to retain and recruit bilingual educators.
The pre-pandemic teacher shortage
Public school teachers in Texas have felt unsupported and treated unfairly even before the pandemic, said Bob Popinski, director of policy at the education advocacy group Raise Your Hand Texas. The pandemic has only put more stress on teachers.
Popinski said those high levels of stress on teachers coupled with being undervalued and underpaid is driving more teachers out.
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.
In 2019, Republican lawmakers mandated raises for teachers in an $11.6 billion overhaul of public school finance. The bill also included a merit raise system aimed to help rural and high-need school districts attract talent. In rare cases, the program rewards Texas’ highest-rated educators with hefty pay raises that could balloon to a six-figure salary.
The University of Houston report did not include the inclusion of the law.
In a Charles Butt Foundation poll of 919 Texas teachers last year, 68% said they seriously considered leaving the profession in 2021, an increase of 10 percentage points compared to the year before.
“The future success of our state is linked to our ability to recruit and retain effective teachers,” Popinski said in an email. “It will be up to our local communities and state to begin developing new policies that help better attract, prepare, and retain our teachers.”
School districts over the summer faced large vacancies as the pandemic has exacerbated the issue. The Houston Independent School District, the largest district in the state, had more than 700 vacant positions last summer. That number is down to 192, still a large number of vacancies. To attract talent, schools have offered more pay and stipends, with Houston ISD approving a $2,500 sign-on bonus.
In Waco, the school district increased base pay to over $50,000 last summer, and in Killeen, the district increased base pay to about $52,000.
This week, a Texas American Federation of Teachers survey of 3,800 of its members found that 66% of educators throughout Texas said they have recently considered leaving their job. President Zeph Capo said teacher discontent has been festering for a long time and the pandemic only increased that feeling.
“In addition to long-neglected low wages and the stress of increasing workloads, the Omicron surge has created unbelievable chaos,” Capo said in an email. “Educators witness every day the devastating effects on our students when schools have staffing shortages. It’s only going to get worse unless teachers’ concerns are addressed.”
The bilingual teacher shortage
For Ehlers, the pandemic was the final straw. She had already been feeling overworked. Before the pandemic, she remembers some days she would not leave work until 9 p.m.
As part of her bilingual instruction, Ehlers would teach in English for two days a week, then in Spanish for the other three days. But often, she would have to translate books and other lesson plans into Spanish on her own, and the constant shifting between virtual and in-person classes just added to her workload.
“I never wanted to cheat my students out,” she said.
Teachers across the state have had similar experiences to Ehlers, but in some instances, the struggles for bilingual educators begin even before setting foot in the classroom.
To become a bilingual teacher, a person must take two exams and one of them is a five-hour-long Spanish proficiency exam.
Edith Treviño, founder and CEO of Dr. ET and Company, which provides review sessions on the Spanish proficiency exam, said when she first took the tests it completely drained her.
“This test is so hard, and I am a native speaker of Spanish and I struggled with it,” she said.
Treviño said helping people prepare for the proficiency exam can be demoralizing for them so it’s part of her job to push future teachers to keep going and letting them know that they can change the lives of many children.
“Bilingual teachers serve as an advocate,” she said. “They serve as liaison for culture and language.”
Andy Canales, executive director of Latinos for Education in Texas, believes one cause of the shortages is that only about 23% of Hispanic students were at or above criteria on a standardized test used for college admission. On top of that, Hispanics in college see that teachers don’t have that high of a salary and would much rather look for higher-paying jobs that will allow them to take care of their families.
Being able to master two languages is a massive benefit to a child, said Maribel Cantu, a mother of three bilingual children and a bilingual teacher herself in McAllen Independent School District. She has one child in elementary school, one in middle school and one in high school.
Cantu made the decision to enroll her children in a bilingual program at their schools in Sharyland Independent School District because she wanted them to continue practicing their Spanish while learning English.
When she made that decision, she was asked if she was OK with her kids being labeled as English learners and she didn’t understand why that was a bad thing.
“I don’t consider it a label,” she said. “The one in the high school is completely fluent in both languages. Anywhere he goes, in any job he takes, because he knows two languages he is going to be worth a lot more.”
For decades, educators have pleaded with the legislature to provide pathways
and funding that would allow high-school students to receive university tuition
and training in exchange for bilingual teacher service. These efforts have not
passed the legislature. Some school districts offer tuition to high-school
students to enter teacher shortage areas, however, shortage areas remain (https://www.dallasisd.org/Page/74935).
A 2018 article in the TABE Journal suggests a shortage of 7,600 bilingual
teachers exists in Texas (http://www.tabe.org/__static/8a1bf29d27807f2f855299def96d6afd/journal-2018-volume-20-1.pdf?dl=1).
School district provision for bilingual education in Texas has been a legal
mandate since the fall of 1973, when the Bilingual Education and Training Act
(S.B. 121) was enacted by the Sixty-third Texas Legislature and signed by
Governor Dolph Briscoe. Despite this legal requirement, Texas has failed to provide the
needed teachers. The law stipulates that “all Texas elementary public schools
enrolling twenty or more children of limited English ability in a given grade
level must provide bilingual instruction” (https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/bilingual-education#:~:text=On%20June%203%2C%201973%2C%20Governor,Education%20and%20Training%20Act%20(S.B.&text=The%20centerpiece%20was%20the%20mandate,level%20must%20provide%20bilingual%20instruction.), yet the State of Texas provides no mechanism to meet the required mandate of bilingual teachers. The
shortage of bilingual teachers persists and student needs go unmet. I am
still waiting for the class-action lawsuit to be filed. Texas is in violation
of its own law. Search any school district human resource job webpage
in the state and you will find bilingual teacher positions advertised.
Thank you Ft. Worth ISD for taking this step to address our
students’ needs.
Teacher shortages are a worrisome emerging trend, as you can read about in this piece by Michael DiNapoli of the Learning Policy Institute that lays out the problem quite well.
This post is part of LPI's Learning in the Time of COVID-19blog series, which explores evidence-based and equity-focused strategies and investments to address the current crisis and build long-term systems capacity.
For decades, U.S. schools have struggled to provide all students with access to well-prepared and experienced teachers who reflect the rich ethnic and racial diversity of the country. Reports have repeatedly documented that students of color and other historically underserved students are disproportionately taught by new, underprepared, and inexperienced teachers—an inequity that is substantially responsible for persistent achievement gaps between students of color and their white peers.
Before the pandemic, districts across the country were grappling with ongoing teacher shortages. In the 2017–18 school year alone, these widespread shortages resulted in more than 100,000 teaching positions left vacant or staffed by individuals who were unqualified for their jobs. Likewise, nearly every state reported shortages of teachers in high-need subjects like math, science, and special education, driven by both teacher turnover and significant declines in those choosing to enter the profession. From 2009 to 2017, 340,000 fewer students enrolled in educator preparation programs, with the drop driven largely by financial concerns, including the high cost of comprehensive preparation, the burden of student loan debt, and the lack of competitive compensation. More than two-thirds of educators are weighed down with an average of $20,000 to $50,000 in student loan debt. Preparation costs and student loan debt are a particularly significantburden for students who are Black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) and contribute to difficulties in attracting and retaining a diverse teaching force.
COVID-19 has only served to worsen these pre-pandemic conditions. According to U.S. Department of Education data for the 2020–21 school year, to date 43 states are reporting shortages in math teachers, 42 in science teachers, and 44 in special education teachers. In addition to expected reductions in those entering the profession, we’re seeing concerning signs of increased turnover as stressful working conditions and health concerns are prompting some to seek early retirement and others to leave the profession. At the same time, school communities are grappling with layoffs that are destabilizing their educator workforce, including teachers and support personnel. And local and state policymakers are bracing themselves for future budget cuts—and the layoffs that go along with them.
In addition to expected reductions in those entering the profession, we’re seeing concerning signs of increased turnover as stressful working conditions and health concerns are prompting some to seek early retirement and others to leave the profession.
Warning Signs of a Shrinking Pipeline of New Teachers
Unlike the Great Recession, when a weak job market drove up college enrollment, the pandemic is leading to a decline in enrollment in higher education. Data on teacher preparation program enrollment is not yet available, but early signs are worrisome. Undergraduate enrollment is down by nearly 4% (a concerning statistic, given that 80% of educators begin teaching with a bachelor’s degree). Enrollment declines are steepest among Native American and Black students. Enrollment at historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), which are a significant source of new educators, is down 5.5%. Alarmingly, 22% fewer students from the high school class of 2020 enrolled directly in college after graduation, with the greatest declines seen at schools serving students from low-income families, students of color, and students in urban areas.
Enrollment in community colleges, which are more racially and economically diverse than their four-year counterparts, has also dropped—by more than 10%—with public two-year HBCUs experiencing a more than 20% enrollment decline. These declines threaten enrollment in traditional teacher preparation programs, as well as in 2+2 educator preparation programs, which help diverse candidates become teachers through partnerships between 2-year institutions of higher education and their 4-year counterparts.
An August 2020 Census Bureau survey provides insight into the causes for the drop in higher education enrollment. Alongside the shift to distance learning and their fears of getting COVID-19, survey respondents cited their inability to pay as a factor in their decision to forgo college. Pandemic-related layoffs have hurt low-income and BIPOC communities the hardest, including requiring recent high school graduates and current college students to forgo their education in order to help support their families.
A forthcoming LPI analysis will provide an up-close look at how the pandemic is impacting the teaching workforce in California. Soon, LPI will release California Teachers and COVID-19: How the Pandemic is Impacting the Teacher Workforce. The report details how teacher burnout, retirements, and resignations have exacerbated critical shortages in California districts and could lead to even worse shortages to come. The report describes how state investments can ensure a strong and stable teacher workforce by funding high-retention pathways into the profession and providing educator development and supports.
Since the first COVID-19 restrictions were put in place last March, teachers have been on the front lines of an unprecedented effort to adapt teaching and learning to our new and often-shifting reality. The challenges they report include longer hours, inadequate support, and strain on their mental and physical health. For example, 75% of National Board Certified teachers surveyed last August and September reported working more hours, with 20% reporting working more than 15 extra hours a week. About one in five of these respondents—who are expert, experienced teachers—stated that professional learning supports from their schools and districts were “not at all adequate.” A survey of Colorado superintendents revealed widespread fears of teacher burnout resulting from the additional burdens associated with enforcing safety protocols, addressing the impact of lost instructional time, teaching in hybrid situations (online and in person), and abruptly switching to fully remote learning when classes must quarantine.
Since the first COVID-19 restrictions were put in place last March, teachers have been on the front lines of an unprecedented effort to adapt teaching and learning to our new and often-shifting reality. The challenges they report include longer hours, inadequate support, and strain on their mental and physical health.
These and other factors are already taking a toll. Surveys from the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP), and the National Education Association (NEA) all show that many educators are planning to retire early, take a leave of absence, or exit the profession entirely. In an August 2020 poll, 45% of principals said pandemic working conditions were “accelerating their plans to leave the profession.” In the NEA poll (released in August 2020), 28% of all teachers and 43% of Black teachers said they’re more likely to retire early or leave the profession. This emerging trend is worrying, given the outsized role that turnover plays in teacher shortages. Prior to the pandemic, research showed that about 90% of the annual nationwide demand for teachers is created by teachers leaving the profession.
There’s also evidence of a shortage of substitute teachers to tap when classroom teachers fall ill, are quarantined, or are otherwise unable to work. For example, a fall EdWeek survey found that about one-third of schools and districts are unable to hire a substitute for roughly 50% of their absent teachers. Eighty percent of respondents reported leaving classes uncovered. Schools in California, Idaho, Michigan, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Wisconsin, West Virginia, and other states have had to close temporarily when teachers quarantined and substitute coverage came up short. In some instances, the lack of qualified substitute teachers has resulted in states and districts lowering the bar for these positions, including allowing individuals with just a high school diploma to serve as substitute teachers. Jhone Ebert, Nevada’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, explained, in a January New York Times article, “We have to go to … extremes to get adults temporarily in the room to support our children.”
Raising Demands and Reducing Capacity: COVID-19 and the Educator Workforce
We’re hearing a lot of conflicting scenarios and projections related to the teacher workforce
come fall. Indicators of teacher demand and supply—including the number of teaching
and other positions funded, the number required to deliver instruction safely, turnover
rates, and the supply of new teachers coming out of teacher preparation programs—
can help us begin to understand the impact of COVID-19 on the educator workforce.
Employment in public schools is at its lowest level since the year 2000, despite there being about 3.5 million more students in schools today. The latest job numbers indicate an over 8% decrease in public school employment, meaning students have access to about 676,000 fewer educators and school support personnel than they did at this time last year. Although many of these cuts are non-teaching positions, teacher layoffs have occurred or are anticipated, based on budget conditions, in Hawaii, Missouri, and New York, among others.
And this could get worse. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) has projected that state budgets will likely see a reduction of 11% this fiscal year and 10% in the next fiscal year. An earlier estimate by LPI showed that a 10% reduction in state funding would result in a 5% reduction in the teacher workforce—or more than 173,000 teachers losing their jobs. During the Great Recession, cuts in teaching positions had the greatest impact on BIPOC students and students from low-income families. The cuts also had long-term implications for the profession, as the widespread teacher layoffs are widely believed to have been one of the causes for the significant drop in enrollment in teacher preparation programs.
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