Teacher shortage hits home at GISD campuses
Aug. 13—The story below has been updated. Greenville ISD currently has only six staff positions that are still left unfilled, and not the "43 teachers short" as it appeared on the district's website as of Friday, Aug. 12. The website still shows many of the positions that have been filled because the district is still accepting applications and interviewing for high-need positions.
From back-to-school shopping to getting kids back on a sleep schedule, Greenville is abuzz with families getting ready for the first day of school Wednesday. And with GISD implementing an amped up security protocol (which includes the addition of six district police officers), there's a lot for Greenville's students, parents and staff to get ready for.
However, another issue that GISD and schools across the country are working to address is the shortage of people willing to teach. With contributing factors that include post-COVID burnout, school shootings, polarizing statewide politics and teachers' salaries struggling to keep up with the rate of inflation, the attrition rate for teachers in Texas rose to about 12% during the 2021-22 school year — compared to 9% the previous year, according to the Texas Education Agency (TEA).
As of today, Greenville ISD is about six teachers short. However, the district's website still shows 42 vacancies. This is because the district typically "keeps some jobs posted even if they may be filled because [they] are always interviewing for high-need jobs" such as "classroom teachers, bus drivers and maintenance workers," GISD Chief Communications Officer Helen Williams told the Herald-Banner.
One of the reasons for the teacher shortage in Texas is indeed financial, as many districts were still catching up after the 2011 budget cuts, in which state lawmakers cut more than $4 billion from education.
Later, things started to improve for Texas educators with the passing of House Bill 3 in 2019, in which teachers were given at least a 3.5% raise, but that hasn't kept up with the rate of inflation the last few years — which saw food prices rising by 13 percent and energy prices increasing by a whopping 43.2 percent over the last 12 months, according to the Consumer Price Index.
Locally, GISD tried to soften the blow of inflation this year by giving its employees (not just teachers) at least a 2% increase in pay for the 2022-23 school year, and also offered math and science teachers annual stipends of $1,000-$2,500 according to the district's website.
Also in light of the challenges that today's teachers face, GISD has been making sure to show their appreciation to their new and returning teachers by giving them warm welcomes at many of the pre-school year orientations and trainings these last two weeks — which have often included catered lunches sponsored by local businesses and performances by student groups.
Statewide, Gov. Greg Abbott called on TEA Commissioner Mike Morath in March to launch a teacher retention task force to develop ideas on how to address the problem. The Teacher Vacancy Task Force was officially launched later that month, however TEA received backlash as only two of the task force's 28 members were current classroom teachers. Shortly after its launch, the task force was expanded to include an additional two dozen public school classroom teachers.
"It is imperative that we include the insights and recommendations of current classroom teachers as the task force works to identify strong recommendations that can address the staffing shortages facing school systems across Texas," Morath said. "This expansion strengthens the Task Force and includes more perspectives as we work to find far-reaching solutions to these challenges."
