Tag: Houston

  • Houston ISD lays off, reassigns hundreds of teachers

    Houston ISD lays off, reassigns hundreds of teachers

    Dive Brief:

    • Houston Independent School District laid off 160 uncertified teachers and 54 staff members as part of “staff leveling” efforts “to align teachers with student enrollment,” according to a district announcement on Monday. Additionally, 232 teachers were reassigned to unfilled positions.
    • The district’s student enrollment data for the 2025-26 school year has yet to be released, though Houston ISD said in a February board meeting that it was conservatively budgeting for a decrease in enrollment of about 8,000 students, which would lead to a loss of $67 million in revenue.
    • At the same meeting, the district said it would consider a proposal this fall to close some schools in the 2026-27 school year. It cited a 30,000 student decline in Houston ISD’s enrollment over the last decade.

    Dive Insight:

    The major staffing shift for Houston ISD “is a standard process that ensures the most effective teachers are leading our classrooms,” said Trey Serna, a district spokesperson, in a Monday video announcement.

    When staffing adjustments are needed, Texas’ largest school district primarily considers a teacher’s performance and certification, Serna said. 

    The move comes as the district has recently reported early successes during a state takeover aimed at turning around low-performing schools.  Superintendent Mike Miles, who was appointed by the state in June 2023, reported a sharp increase in A- and B-rated schools in the 2024-25 school year and has promised that all Houston ISD schools will fall into A- and B-rated categories by 2027.

    Adjustments to budgets and staffing due to enrollment declines are a challenge many public schools are facing nationwide. 

    If declining enrollments persist, education economics researchers foresee more layoffs and hiring freezes for districts moving forward. This, they said, could lead to a broad reversal in teacher shortages. 

    Education finance experts have suggested that while districts increasingly consider teacher layoffs, they should focus on firing ineffective and uncertified educators first. 

    In September, Florida’s Orange County Public Schools announced mass teacher reassignments as it faces a sharp, unexpected decline in enrollment this school year. Because Orange County Public Schools had 157 vacancies due to a hiring freeze, Superintendent Maria Vazquez said she was hopeful the district could retain most of its instructional staff.

    Texas’ Austin Independent School District is also moving ahead with plans to consolidate some of its schools amid ongoing enrollment declines. Superintendent Matias Segura said in a Wednesday Instagram video that the district will publish its first draft for consolidation and boundary changes by Friday evening.   

    “It won’t be perfect, and it isn’t final,” Segura said of the draft plan. “Our goal is the same one our community shares: every family deserves an excellent neighborhood school that is vibrant, well-resourced, and ready to meet each child’s needs.”

    The district plans to collect community feedback and refine the plan before the school board votes on Nov. 20.



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  • Does Texas Have a Teacher Retention Crisis? – The 74

    Does Texas Have a Teacher Retention Crisis? – The 74


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    Texas teachers may be increasingly fed up with their job, but they’re still staying in school.

    State data shows Texas public school educators continue to return to the classroom at somewhat similar rates as years past, despite multiple surveys showing the large majority of them have contemplated quitting the profession.

    While teacher turnover has slightly increased over the past decade, state data show there hasn’t been a large exodus of experienced teachers. In fact, the average years of experience for Texas public school teachers hasn’t notably changed since 2014-15, nor has the share of first-year teachers hired by districts.

    The numbers run counter to years of warnings that Texas teachers are primed to bolt en masse out of frustration with the job. At the same time, Texas does still face widespread issues with morale, as well as big challenges in finding certified teachers and filling several types of positions, including special education educators and bilingual teachers.

    Steady hands in schools

    While much has changed in Texas classrooms over the decade, students continue to be educated by mostly veteran teachers. The average tenure for Texas teachers has held steady during that stretch, ranging from 10.9 to 11.2 years of experience.

    The state did see a slight dip in the share of first-year teachers — who, on average, have less positive impact on student achievement than other educators — during the late 2010s, then a slight uptick over the past few years. Still, novice teachers account for fewer than 1-in-10 Texas educators.

    A small rise in turnover

    Teacher turnover, a measure of how many educators don’t return to teach in the same district each year, has ticked higher since the pandemic. While it once hovered near 16 percent, it’s reached roughly 20 percent over the past two years.

    Ultimately, a 4 percentage point difference equates to about 15,000 more teachers who aren’t returning to a classroom in their district. However, state data shows teachers of all experience levels are leaving at similar rates.

    Still stressed

    Teachers might be sticking with their jobs, but that doesn’t mean they’re happy about it.

    A 2024 poll of 1,100 Texas teachers by the Charles Butt Foundation, an Austin-based education advocacy nonprofit, found nearly four-fifths of educators surveyed had seriously considered quitting the profession in the past year. Pay, quality of campus leadership and a sense of feeling valued ranked among the biggest factors in whether teachers had considered quitting.

    Separate polls by two of the largest Texas educator unions — the Texas American Federation of Teachers and Texas State Teachers Association — also showed about two-thirds of teachers had considered leaving the profession.

    Texas education leaders also are worried about the state’s ability to retain teachers and hire tough-to-fill positions. A state panel convened by the Texas Education Agency examined the issues and made numerous recommendations in 2023, though few of its proposals have been put into action.

    As teachers leave Texas schools, district leaders are increasingly filling those positions with uncertified teachers, who generally leave the profession sooner than certified teachers.

    This article first appeared on Houston Landing and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.


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