Texas
Can Texas lawmakers close the ‘floodgates’ of uncertified teachers that they opened?
The explosion of uncertified teachers is a problem — that’s the message Texas’ education chief brought to lawmakers this week.
More than half of brand-new educators last year lacked a state certification, meaning it was impossible to know what kind of training they received.
“We are setting these folks up for a very rough ride,” Education Commissioner Mike Morath told lawmakers during a recent House committee hearing.
He ticked through data illustrating the myriad ways teachers without formal training can impact learning. A state analysis, for example, found that schools with lower academic accountability scores hired higher rates of uncertified teachers.
A decade ago, the Legislature created a system that empowered district administrators to loosen hiring requirements. Now, faced with the repercussions, lawmakers want to fix it.
Rep. Gina Hinojosa acknowledged this dynamic while calling the volume of uncertified teachers unacceptable.
“We need to take responsibility for some of that because we’ve made it easier to get into a classroom without certification,” the Austin Democrat told her colleagues. “That is a policy decision that we have made.”
Rep. Diego Bernal, D-San Antonio, put it more bluntly: “We opened the floodgates.”
School administrators can waive certain requirements by applying for a “District of Innovation” designation. This ability, which began with a 2015 law change, is among the factors driving the spike in uncertified educators in public schools.
The law change gave traditional public schools some of the flexibility already afforded to charter schools. District leaders can exempt themselves from a wide array of rules related to school start dates, class sizes or teacher certification requirements.
More than 980 school districts have District of Innovation status, according to the Texas Education Agency. That’s the majority of the state’s public schools systems.
While agency officials log innovation plans, they don’t have power to approve or reject them, effectively giving them no oversight over how many schools open their classrooms to uncertified educators.
Texas’ reliance on uncertified new teacher hires shot up – hitting a historic high – after the pandemic exacerbated educator shortages and left administrators scrambling to fill classrooms. Meanwhile, the state’s largest teacher preparation program was under state scrutiny.
An omnibus school finance bill from Rep. Brad Buckley, R-Salado, includes attempts to rein in the system that allows teachers to skirt certification.
The proposal would limit which classes uncertified educators can teach in the future. To encourage certification, it would give to districts a $1,000 allotment for every recently hired uncertified teacher who earns a standard certificate by the end of next school year.
Buckley’s proposal encourages district leaders to pay beginning teachers with certifications higher salaries than those who are not. Districts of Innovation could also not opt-out of notifying parents if their children are assigned to an uncertified teacher.
Kate Greer, managing director for policy and state coalition at The Commit Partnership, said the proposal reflects that “the more training a teacher can have … the better off those kids are.”
Texas must deal in the short-term with the fact that many students in uncertified teachers’ classrooms aren’t learning as much as children paired with educators who have extensive training, she said.
“And longer term, how do we incentivize what the data shows is really good for kids, which is having highly qualified, highly prepared teachers in front of students,” Greer said.
Impact of certification
To become a certified teacher in Texas, candidates must earn a bachelor’s degree, complete an educator preparation program, pass related exams, submit a state application and go through a background check.
The road to the classroom without state certification is less clear.
Some uncertified educators may be switching careers from the corporate world or the military. Others may have worked as teachers in other states and didn’t want to apply for a Texas certificate when they moved.
Others could be recent graduates who saw open positions in their local district.
The level of training these educators begin with is wide-ranging, officials say, from years in schools to essentially nonexistent.
That stands in contrast to educators who come from high-quality preparation programs where they must spend copious time learning how to manage student behavior, plan lessons and serve children with disabilities.
An emerging body of research examines the potential negative effects of uncertified teachers who lack previous experience in the classroom.
Students with new uncertified teachers lost the equivalent of about four months of learning in reading and three months in math, according to a Texas Tech University study.
Such educators also identified elementary school students for dyslexia services at a lower rate than their certified counterparts.
Roughly two-thirds of uncertified teachers left the profession after five years compared to about one-third of those who are traditionally certified, according to Texas Education Agency data.
And finally, a state analysis found that schools that saw decreased academic accountability outcomes since 2019 also saw an increase in the percentage of uncertified teachers.
When schools gained District of Innovation flexibility a decade ago, many officials initially used the certification waiver to hire career and technical education teachers. They looked for industry professionals who lacked a certificate but brought real-world experience to teach students about plumbing, culinary arts, graphic design and other industries.
These days uncertified teachers lead a much broader array of classrooms.
In elementary school, roughly 10% of those who taught English, social studies, math and science were uncertified last year.
Meanwhile, in high school, one in five career and technical education teachers was uncertified as was roughly one in 10 science teachers.
The DMN Education Lab deepens the coverage and conversation about urgent education issues critical to the future of North Texas.
The DMN Education Lab is a community-funded journalism initiative, with support from Bobby and Lottye Lyle, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Garrett and Cecilia Boone, The Meadows Foundation, The Murrell Foundation, Ron and Phyllis Steinhart, Solutions Journalism Network, Southern Methodist University, Sydney Smith Hicks and the University of Texas at Dallas. The Dallas Morning News retains full editorial control of the Education Lab’s journalism.
Thousands of teachers across North Texas could soon see a significant boost in their paychecks, thanks to a record-breaking school funding bill that’s now headed to Governor Greg Abbott’s desk.
House Bill 2, an $8.5 billion funding plan, cleared its final legislative hurdle on Thursday. Governor Abbott has promised to quickly sign the bill, which aims to address teacher shortages and improve retention across Texas. If signed, teachers could start seeing the raises take effect in 2026.
Nearly half of the funding – $4.2 billion – is earmarked for teacher pay. In larger school districts such as Dallas, Fort Worth, Frisco, and Plano, teachers with at least three years of experience will receive a $2,500 raise. Those with five or more years in the classroom will receive $5,000.
Raises are nearly double for teachers in smaller districts with fewer than 5,000 students.
The bill also includes $500 million in raises for other school staff like librarians, cafeteria workers, and custodians.
The funding package has drawn wide support from education advocates and business leaders alike, who see it as a step toward addressing long-standing concerns over school resources and student outcomes.
“It’s not just how much money are we going to give our schools that is a critical question to ask, but it is just as much how are we going to invest those funds and how are we going to measure that return on that investment,” said Kate Greer, a consultant with Commit Partnership, during a summit in April.
“Under-education of our young adults represents significant limitations on our business community,” added Jarrad Toussant with the Dallas Regional Chamber.
However, House Bill 2 didn’t pass without fierce negotiations. It was approved alongside the controversial school choice measure that allows taxpayer money to fund private school education through education savings accounts. Governor Abbott has already signed that legislation into law.
- In addition to teacher raises, House Bill 2 also provides:
- $430 million for school security improvements
- $850 million for special education services
- $677 million for early learning programs
- A new $1.3 billion allotment for fixed district costs like insurance, utilities, and transportation
Governor Abbott has until June 22 to sign House Bill 2 and other legislation passed during this session.
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A bill that would have banned minors from having a social media account has missed a deadline to pass in the Texas Senate.
House Bill 186, filed by Rep. Jared Patterson, R-Frisco, sailed through the House 116-25 in May, but never received a vote in the Senate several days after a slew of teenagers spoke against it during a Senate committee hearing. The contents of the bill could still be attached to another as an amendment or as part of a budget stipulation, but it is unlikely this late into the legislative session, which ends Monday.
The proposal, the most far-reaching of the bills filed to address online dangers this session, would prohibit minors from creating accounts on social media sites, such as Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat and more, and require users to verify their ages. Companies would have to comply with the ban by April 2026.
The bill would also allow parents to request the deletion of their child’s existing social media account, and a company must comply within 10 days.
The potential failure of the social media ban for minors comes as a surprise, considering Texas lawmakers have made regulating social media a priority this legislative session.
Gov. Greg Abbott has already signed Senate Bill 2420, which restricts children from downloading apps, into law and emphasized his support of protecting children’s online presence.
“Safety and online privacy for Texas children remains a priority for Governor Abbott, which is why he signed SB 2420 into law. Texas will empower parents to have more control over the online content their children can access,” said Andrew Mahaleris, his press secretary, when asked about Abbott’s support of HB 186.
Under HB 186, any website that allows users to curate and create content is considered a social media website and is cut off from minors. News and sports websites will be safe.
Lawmakers are also considering House Bill 499, by Rep. Mary González, D-Clint, which would require social media platforms to have a warning label about the association between a minor’s social media usage and significant mental health issues.
As of June 2024, 10 states, including Texas, have passed laws restricting children’s access to social media, according to the Age Verification Providers Association.
Studies show that 95% of youth aged 13 to 17 report using social media, with more than a third stating they use social media “almost constantly.”
Two years ago, the American Federation of Teachers and the American Psychological Association, among other national organizations, called out social media platforms for undermining classroom learning, increasing costs for school systems, and being a “root cause” of the nationwide youth mental health crisis.
Several social media platforms and application management companies have noted that the state’s measures to protect children are too far-reaching and will have an impact beyond their intended scope.
An Apple spokesperson said that while they share the goal of strengthening kids’ online safety, the current proposals coming out of Texas will require them to retain sensitive, personally identifiable information for every Texan who wants to download an app.
Most social media platforms and online applications ask for age verification before signing up, but Texas is looking for more intensive measures, according to the Age Verification Providers Association, such as requiring a license or outright banning minors until they can prove they are older than 16 or 18.
Congress is considering the Kids Online Safety Act, which does not require app marketplaces to collect and keep sensitive data, such as passports or driver’s licenses, from all users to verify age. Apple supports the federal legislation’s approach over Texas’.
The outright ban on social media for minors has also garnered criticism from many on social media, including prominent conservative accounts such as Ian Miles Cheong, Laura Loomer, and Libs of TikTok, who have denounced the bill for excluding video games from the ban completely and for leaving a loophole open for video applications like YouTube and TikTok due to the bill’s wording.
“Let people parent their children how they see fit. Parents are more than capable of controlling their children’s screen time. Stop nanny state legislation. This is what Democrats do, not Republicans,” said Loomer in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The social media ban, even if passed via another bill, is expected to face challenges in court, as some argue that it violates the First Amendment.
“It’s going too far. It’s sweeping adult speech into it without realizing that by adding an unnecessary hurdle, it affects everyone,” said Kathleen Farley, a First Amendment lawyer for the Washington, D.C.-based Chamber of Progress.
She said that, just like video games, social media, and online applications already have a voluntary ratings system that parents can access before any minor can access a website or application, and anything more stringent is usually considered too broad a restriction for the courts.
“I think all of this shows a need for people to be better educated on the current parental controls that exist in app stores. There are already ratings and ways to prevent children from downloading certain apps,” she said. “The fact that this legislation is being pushed is either that people don’t know about it, or it’s too hard to use.”
Disclosure: Apple and Facebook have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
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