TEMPLE, Texas — Many Central Texas school districts say it's been a struggle retaining teachers with low salaries and burnout playing a role. However, some local school districts are not losing hope and believe they can get those numbers back up.
According to the Texas Education Agency, about 10% of teachers in Texas left the field each year in the last decade. Over the 2020-2021 school year, 9% left.
"We have a variety of positions open," said Jennifer Ramirez, a retention and recruitment coordinator. "The ones that we are most concerned about that we consider high priority are those that directly impact classroom instruction."
To help fill the need for teachers, schools districts like China Spring ISD have adopted a four-day school week in hopes it'll attract teachers. China ISD school officials say this approach appears to be working.
"This last year, we had over 20% turnover rate and currently, we are sitting at 9.76% turnover rate, so it's really improved," said
Click here for job openings at China Spring ISD.
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Districts like Belton and Midway ISDs say their strategy involves putting the needs of teachers first.
"Compensation benefits, and work life balance is really the large but there's also a lot of student behaviors that create quite a bit of a struggle in the classroom that really have presented as more of a problem post Covid then they were pre-Covid," Ramirez said. "....We want them to have a list of students so that they can really provide that exceptional learning experience that really matches student needs."
House Bill 11 was passed by the Texas House in April that would help schools rehire retired teachers and offer other incentives in an effort to fight the state’s teacher shortage. As of right now, that bill has yet to leave the Senate.