Teacher Trouble: How Texas’ Teacher Shortage is Hurting Our Kids

If one word defined the Legislature’s approach to education policy in 2023, it was gridlock. Bill after bill — including crucial proposals for school funding and teacher pay raises — fell victim to lawmakers’ battle over vouchers. This only intensified the pressure on Texas public schools, leaving them to deal with teacher shortages, budget shortfalls, and rising inflation as they continued to serve the state’s 5.5 million public school students.

In this episode you’ll hear from Myrna Blanchard, Ph. D., Talent Acquisition and Policy Director at Castleberry ISD, J. Jacob Kirksey, Ph. D., Assistant Professor of Education Policy at Texas Tech University, Lori Powell, M. Ed., GT Specialist & Social Studies Facilitator at Northside ISD, Bob Popinski, Senior Director of Policy at Raise Your Hand Texas and JoLisa Hoover, Teacher Specialist at Raise Your Hand Texas.

These experts will discuss how our state’s leaders can start this session ready to act on essential education policy items and focus on one area you’re likely to hear a lot about as the session gets underway — how teacher workforce issues, including a shortage of certified teachers, are affecting Texas students.

Read the transcript here.