Plano South | August 2023

2022 EDUCATION EDITION

Stang concerns Districts around the state are dealing with teacher stang issues. The Texas Education Agency released a report on teacher retention on April 20. 13.4% of Texas public

The teachers that have been here for 10 or 15 years, the high-quality edu- cators that understand the classroom management system better than a rst- year teacher—how do we keep them

long-term?” What else?

school teachers left the profession between Fall 2021-Fall 2022 teachers surveyed considered leaving the profession in 2022 77% of Texas public school

Along with recruitment tools like the QuEST program and a series of job fairs, which took place throughout July, PISD is also working on ways to keep teach- ers in the district. The rst of those is its new compen- sation plan, which was passed by the PISD board of trustees on May 16. That plan includes a 3% pay bump for all employees, increased stipends and an increase in starting salaries for teachers from $58,250 to $60,000. That starting salary is about on par with other area districts. Frisco and Lewisville ISDs start teachers at $59,000 and $60,850, respectively. “[The PISD board of trustees] has really done some things to ensure that we have the highest quality of appli- cants and the highest quality of educa- tors in classrooms,” Ramos said. She added that because many dis- tricts are dealing with stang issues, the program is even more important. “All districts are trying to nd dier- ent ways to bring people in, and they’re stealing from each other,” Ramos said. “We are not only working to get the people, but then we’re working to get them through our process as soon as possible.” Ramos added adequate training and support for teachers is one of the other main ways PISD works to keep teachers. “We need to make sure that they are equipped so that they feel comfort- able,” Ramos said. “We do see educa- tors are leaving the profession, so we need to provide them support and give them that training.” That training and support includes a two-year mentorship program and the district’s classroom resources for edu- cation (CORE) store which provides school supplies so teachers don’t have to pay out of pocket. Those initiatives are all in pursuit of one goal, Ramos said. “The No. 1 job for us is to take care of kids,” she said. “That’s why we’re here.”

“THE TEACHERS THAT LEFT THE PROFESSION ARE NOT COMING BACK. WE’RE NOT ABLE TO KEEP UP WITH NEW TEACHERS COMING IN.” WILL HOLLEMAN, SENIOR DIRECTOR

OF GOVERNMENT RELATIONS AT RAISE YOUR HAND TEXAS

and retention to mitigate teacher sta- ing issues, Holleman said. He added that the No. 1 reason for stang concerns is pay. According to a poll conducted by the Charles Butt Foundation in 2022, 77% of Texas public school teachers who participated said they have seriously considered leaving the profession. Of that sample, 81% noted that they felt their pay is unfair. The Charles Butt Foundation does research on public education, and helps fund grants and initiatives to support public education in Texas. “There’s been no substantial increases to budgets from the state’s perspective,” Holleman said. “When you don’t have state resources com- ing in with double-digit ination, you’re getting [priced] out of the labor market.” More than 13% of teachers followed through on that consideration and left teaching, according to the TEA report. “They’re not coming back,” Holle- man said. “We’re not able to keep up [with departures] with new teachers coming in.” Holleman added the best way to counteract that trend is to keep those teachers from leaving in the rst place. “Across the state we’ve looked at a model of recruit, educate, retain—that has been our focus,” he said. “Our men- tality has been recruit, recruit, recruit, and really, I would ask that we ip that.

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PLANO SOUTH EDITION • AUGUST 2023