Texas' new state education funding bill includes money to certify more teachers, but experts say it will take time to fix the growing problem.
In 2023-24, more than half of new Texas teachers were uncertified, up from about 11% a decade ago. Bridget Worley, chief state impact officer with the education nonprofit the Commit Partnership, called it a crisis, and one that will hurt students.
"Students who are taught by uncertified teachers with no prior classroom experience lose three to four months of learning in reading and math," Worley said at the recent Margaret J. Hirsch Women's Forum, held in partnership with United to Learn and D Magazine.
What's more, she said uncertified teachers leave the field sooner than certified instructors, impacting students and budgets.
Uncertified teachers or those with emergency permits have helped ease the state's ongoing teacher shortage, but now lawmakers are trying to address the issue. Under Texas' new $8.5 billion school funding bill, all K-12 core educators must be certified.
"We need to figure out how to get more certified teachers in our school systems," Worley said.
Dallas ISD trustee Ben Mackey said his district hasn't been immune to certification concerns. At the same forum, he said 12% of Dallas ISD's current teachers lack certification. And while he also said 20% of new teachers aren't certified, he added that's better than statewide numbers. He attributes that to the district's teacher retention efforts.
"If we retain our educators at better rates," Mackey said, "we have less new teacher vacancies to fill and we can spend more time developing the new teachers we do bring in." He called it a kind of reinforcing cycle.
"The better we can do with retaining our best teachers, the less we have to have uncertified teachers," he said.
Worley said the legislature budgeted $187 million for teacher preparation and certification programs designed to help qualified candidates attain teacher certification – and she expects more funding in the next session.
"This is going continue to be a topic," she said, "and not something we can ignore."
Bill Zeeble is KERA's education reporter. Got a tip? Email Bill at bzeeble@kera.org. You can follow him on X @bzeeble.
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