The Teacher Vacancy Taskforce has released their Final Report of recommendations. General recommendations are below. For more detailed information the final report can be found here.
Compensation
1. Increase Overall Compensation and Support Strategic Compensation Strategies
- Fund a significant increase in overall teacher salaries by increasing the basic allotment and other state funding mechanisms, while increasing the requirement that school systems invest new funding in teacher salaries
- Update the minimum salary schedule to reflect the value of Texas teachers and promote differentiated compensation
- Provide technical assistance for school systems to engage in strategic compensation, including through the Teacher Incentive Allotment, established by the 86th Texas Legislature, and staffing considerations to further increase and differentiate salaries
2. Enhance Teachers’ Total Compensation Package
- Reduce the cost of healthcare insurance for teachers
- Prioritize teacher wellbeing through mental health supports, expanded access to childcare, and other benefits
- Temporarily subsidize the retire/rehire surcharge
3. Provide Incentives and Support for Hard-to-Staff Areas
- Subsidize certification and hiring incentives for Special Education and Bilingual Education Teachers
- Create targeted marketing campaigns and incentives to recruit teachers back into the profession
- Collect and report real-time data about teacher vacancies in tandem with the development of a statewide teacher employment web application
Training & Support
4. Improve the Pipeline and Pre-service Preparation of Novice Teachers
- Expand high-quality Grow Your Own pathways for high school students and paraprofessionals seeking to become certified teachers
- Establish and fund a Teacher Residency pathway and expand educator preparation program capacity to produce teacher residents through technical assistance support
5. Expand Training and Support for Teacher Mentorship and Teacher Leadership Opportunities
- Develop cooperating teacher and mentor teacher trainings that leverage job-embedded and research-based best practices
- Increase funding for and scale of the Mentor Program Allotment established by the 86th Texas Legislature
- Provide opportunities and technical assistance to create and expand teacher leadership roles
6. Provide Access to and Support for High-Quality Instructional Materials
- Expand awareness of and access to high-quality instructional materials to reduce time teachers spend searching for and creating materials
- Require educator preparation programs to integrate instruction on understanding high-quality instructional materials into coursework and provide training for faculty/staff on curriculum and assessment literacy best practices
Working Conditions
7. Demonstrate Respect and Value for Teacher Time
- Develop and conduct teacher time studies with school systems to inform staffing and scheduling policies and decisions
- Provide technical assistance to school administrators to redesign master schedules that increase teacher time for planning and development
- Expand training and technical assistance supports for school systems to design and implement strategic staffing models
8. Schoolwide Culture and Discipline Supports
- Expand access to additional counseling staff, services, and partnerships that support both students and teachers
- Provide preparation, training, and ongoing coaching for school administrators on best practices related to school discipline and fostering a supportive learning environment