From the cover
School districts innovate to ll teacher vacancies
BY JARRETT WHITENER AND EDMOND ORTIZ
The speci cs
Two-minute Impact
Educators, such as Britney Ramos, a third-year teacher at NISD’s Locke Hill Elementary School, said competitive pay and benets are just two of many factors teachers consider in their job hunt. Ramos said some educators may feel compelled to reconsider their career path if pressured by such things as sta ng shortages in other campus positions, and mounting state mandates and paperwork. “All that does is put a burden on teachers,” Ramos said. Muir and Chyla Whitton, NEISD’s executive director of human resources, said the number of teacher vacancies in their respective districts is down from last school year, but it is still a chal- lenge to ll positions, such as special and bilingual education. O cials with NISD and NEISD said their respec- tive districts being districts of innovation, a state- wide designation, gives them exibility to hire degreed, noncertied teachers, and oer other
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NEISD and NISD each implemented historic raises since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to o cials in each district. In February, Gov. Greg Abbott’s Teacher Vacancy Task Force released a report on teacher recruitment and retention challenges statewide. The report showed pay as a top priority. However, NISD and NEISD leaders said during budget meetings they are each operating with a budget shortfall, and they are unable to sustain additional compensation increases yearly at their existing budget level. NEISD Superintendent Sean Maika said administrators sought to save money, increase e ciencies and reduce the district’s $39 million shortfall while developing this school year’s pay program.
75 vacancies
16
188 vacancies
NEISD
NISD
281
10
90
37
35
1604 410
N
SOURCES: NORTHSIDE ISD, NORTH EAST ISD¥COMMUNITY IMPACT
incentives to boost recruitment and retention. Muir said rehiring retired educators has helped to ll NISD teacher vacancies. Whitton said she felt NEISD’S district of innovation designation and salary hikes targeting specic positions have helped to reduce her district’s sta ng burdens.
Starting teacher salaries
2021-22 2023-24
2.89%
3.07%
What they’re saying
60K 50K 40K 30K 20K 10K 0
“We were really losing teachers in the eight- to nine-year [experience] range and the 12- to 14-year [experience] range.”
“How do we sta up and ensure we’re doing everything we can to equip our [human resources] department and our campus principals to be able to hire, particularly in the critical shortage areas?” JOHN CRAFT, NORTHSIDE ISD SUPERINTENDENT
SUSIE LACKORN, NORTH EAST ISD BUDGET AND FINANCIAL ANALYSIS DIRECTOR
NEISD
NISD
SOURCES: NORTHSIDE ISD, NORTH EAST ISDCOMMUNITY IMPACT
Going forward
49,782 teachers left their jobs and 51,001 new teachers were hired. North East AFT President Patsy Esterline told NEISD trustees in a scal year 2023-24 budget meeting that teachers need a higher level of nancial steadiness in uncertain times. “To best serve the students, we need an experienced and stable workforce. We don’t have that right now, so it must be a district priority,” Esterline said.
• More incentives Melina Espíritu-Azocar, chief of sta of the Northside American Federation of Teachers, said she has seen many teachers leave her district or the education profession altogether because they feel they have neither adequate pay nor a work-life balance. In the 2022-23 school year, there were 371,650 teachers statewide, according to Texas Education Agency data. Last school year,
While compensation is one of the most important pieces of hiring and retention, ocials with NEISD and NISD said they are looking to enhance bene ts and other conditions in order to help teachers. Ocials said they plan to focus on these factors: • Work-life balance • Work culture • Dedicated planning time • Increased job beneits
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NORTH SAN ANTONIO EDITION
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