University of Houston study reveals challenges faced by evolving Texas teacher workforce

As K-12 students across Texas return to the classroom, some may not see the same teachers as in previous years. New research from the University of Houston’s College of Education, titled the “2024 Texas Teacher Workforce Report,” indicates that teacher retention has been declining over the past decade, with a decrease of approximately 6.4 percentage points between the 2012-13 and 2021-22 school years.

Key findings from the report highlight several trends: a reduction in standard teacher certifications, an increase in teachers leaving for careers outside public education, and persistent concerns regarding racial and ethnic representation and socioeconomic inequality in public schools.

Teachers are facing numerous new challenges post-pandemic. In addition to lower pay and increased subject teaching requirements, many teachers now enter classrooms without prior experience or training. This could negatively impact student growth across Texas, according to Toni Templeton, senior research scientist at the University of Houston Education Research Center.

“We have seen trends that those who are uncertified leave the classroom at higher rates. It’s creating this circular problem,” Templeton said. “As far as the students are concerned, we are unsure that teachers who are uncertified come to the classroom with a specific set of skills they need to best support students.”

To address teacher shortages, Texas has introduced multiple pathways for prospective teachers to obtain certification. These include vocational experience-based certification and Grow Your Own programs which allow districts to develop teacher pipelines within their communities.

“The combination of these changes has resulted in a teacher population with a wide variety of preparation experiences prior to entering the classroom,” states the report.

In 2012-13, 89.8% of public school teachers held standard teaching certificates; by 2022-23, this had dropped to 83.2%, while uncertified teachers increased from 7.8% to 14.5%.

“We’re worried that not only is the increasing number of uncertified teachers going to create a school environment that’s not as supportive of students as it could be, but it’s going to compound the problem of teacher shortages because they’re not well-prepared to be a teacher,” Templeton said.

The report also notes an increase in educators teaching multiple subjects over the past decade. In 2012-13, there were 75,282 teachers handling two subjects; by 2022-23, this number rose by 16% to 87,477.

“Teaching more subjects contributes to a stressful working environment – asking more of teaching without increasing pay does not entice educators to stay in the field.” -Toni Templeton

The number responsible for three subjects also grew from 23,536 in 2012-13 to 27,275 in 2022-23.

Despite these increased responsibilities, average pay for Texas teachers decreased from $64,638 during the 2012-13 school year to $61,336 during 2022-23 after peaking at $68,030 in 2019-20.

“While we know that pay is not the only reason that teachers leave or would avoid entering the field," said Templeton "we know that it becomes really troublesome and doesn’t contribute to interest or prestige in the field.”

The report proposes two reform policies aimed at ensuring student success: restoring teacher certification requirements while increasing university-based preparation programs; and investing in public school finance equalization along with addressing teacher pay scales and opposing policies directing taxpayer dollars away from public schools.

“The ‘2024 Texas Teacher Workforce Report’ offers evidence supporting establishing prestige in teaching through strong preparation and certification programs alongside equity-based finance reforms,” concluded Templeton.