AUSTIN, Texas (CN) — Not long after shouldering a new set of responsibilities brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, teachers across the country began leaving their jobs in droves, either to take a job in a new field or to focus on their families.
The pandemic presented a new set of challenges for teachers, highlighted issues teachers have been facing for years and played a contributing role in a teacher's reason to call it quits. While it's a nationwide issue, Texas has been hit particularly hard. The issues driving teachers away have been present for years and have now come to a head.
Tara Kini is the director of state policy and chief of staff at the Learning Policy Institute, an organization that conducts research and develops policy to improve outcomes for K-12 public school districts and educators. She said in an interview that while there is no single issue driving the shortage, compensation has played an outsized role in the teacher exodus.
“Teachers' salaries have remained stagnant when you look at year-over-year data,” Kini said. “States like New Mexico and Mississippi have taken a step in the right direction by significantly raising the base pay for teachers, but another strategy could be to make a teachers' wage competitive to other college-educated professions.”
According to Kini, the pay gap between a career in teaching compared to other professions that require a college degree has continued growing while other fields see rising compensation.
The National Education Association tracks teacher pay and estimates that the average public school teacher in the U.S. makes around $65,000. However, in Texas, the average annual salary is $57,641, with the average starting salary even less than that at $44,527. A report on teacher pay from the NEA called compensation in Texas “one of the most dramatic examples of grossly deficient pay for experienced teachers.”
“The disparity between starting pay and average salaries in the Lone Star State is due to salary structures that inadequately compensate teachers based on additional training and experience,” the report states.
Sharing Kini’s perspective is Zeph Capo, president of the Texas American Federation of Teachers, a statewide union with over 65,000 members. In an interview, Capo outlined more issues rooted in the state’s approach to education that are driving educators away.
“I have heard teachers say, 'I don’t get paid enough to put up with this, this job has become too political, this is not about kids anymore, I am sick of being driven by the test and the governor is more concerned about playing politics than my health,'” he said.
On the issue of politics, Capo said that after having to work during heated debates surrounding public health policies and culture war issues, teachers are tired of being caught in the middle and seen as the enemy.
The Republican-controlled Texas Legislature passed two bills last year aimed at banning what lawmakers believe to be critical race theory in the classroom. School sports were also added to the debate when lawmakers passed a bill banning transgender children from playing on sports teams that align with their gender identity.
GOP leaders in the state have signaled they hope to do more when the Legislature reconvenes next year, including passing a similar version of Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law that bans discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.
“Now it is the teacher that is being blamed for everything that is wrong with society and I think that is just a bridge too far,” Capo said. “Some teachers are concerned about getting in trouble, losing their job or their certification.”
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