Teaching demands during the pandemic have exacerbated the nation’s teacher shortage. Abbott wants a task force to investigate.
Substitute teacher Kara Huesser helps a student at Buda Elementary School in Hays CISD on Jan. 18, 2022.
In a letter to TEA Commissioner Mike Morath on Monday, Abbott said the task force should investigate why these shortages exist, recommend policy changes to the state education agency and consider more flexibility in the teacher certification process. In the same poll, teachers said they felt undervalued and underpaid. The average pay for teachers has not increased between 2010 and 2019; it instead decreased from $55,433 to $54,192, according to a recently releasedIn 2019, Texas lawmakers mandated raises for teachers in a $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.