Texas鈥� new state education funding bill includes money to certify more teachers, but experts say it will take time to fix the growing problem.
In 2023-24, , up from about 11% a decade ago. Bridget Worley, chief state impact officer with the education nonprofit the Commit Partnership, called it a crisis, and one that will hurt students.
鈥淪tudents who are taught by uncertified teachers with no prior classroom experience lose three to four months of learning in reading and math,鈥� Worley said at the recent Margaret J. Hirsch Women鈥檚 Forum, held in partnership with United to Learn and D Magazine.
What鈥檚 more, she said uncertified teachers leave the field sooner than certified instructors, impacting students and budgets.
Uncertified teachers or those with emergency permits have helped ease the state鈥檚 ongoing teacher shortage, but now lawmakers are trying to address the issue. Under Texas鈥� new $8.5 billion school funding bill, all K-12 core educators must be certified.
鈥淲e need to figure out how to get more certified teachers in our school systems,鈥� Worley said.
Dallas ISD trustee Ben Mackey said his district hasn鈥檛 been immune to certification concerns. At the same forum, he said 12% of Dallas ISD鈥檚 current teachers lack certification. And while he also said 20% of new teachers aren鈥檛 certified, he added that鈥檚 better than statewide numbers. He attributes that to the district鈥檚 teacher retention efforts.
鈥淚f we retain our educators at better rates,鈥� Mackey said, 鈥渨e have less new teacher vacancies to fill and we can spend more time developing the new teachers we do bring in.鈥� He called it a kind of reinforcing cycle.
鈥淭he better we can do with retaining our best teachers, the less we have to have uncertified teachers,鈥� he said.
Worley said the legislature budgeted $187 million for teacher preparation and certification programs designed to help qualified candidates attain teacher certification 鈥� and she expects more funding in the next session.
鈥淭his is going continue to be a topic,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd not something we can ignore.鈥�
Bill Zeeble is 四虎影院鈥檚 education reporter. Got a tip? Email Bill at bzeeble@kera.org. You can follow him on X .
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