HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Texas is home to some of the biggest school districts in the country, but a new study from the University of Houston’s Education Research Center shows that this doesn’t mean there are more teachers in classrooms.
The report found that Texas lost over 5,000 traditional public school teachers between the 2023 and 2024 school years.
Jackie Anderson, president of the Houston Federation of Teachers, says this trend is discouraging.
“It really saddens me because as a long-term educator, I retired after 33 years in the classroom. But I came into this profession for it to be a career to help students,” Anderson said.
The study found that Texas is losing many mid-career teachers.
The report says that in the 2021-22 school year, just over 24 percent of Texas public school teachers had six to ten years of experience. By the 2024-25 school year, that number fell to about 22 percent.
Anderson believes losing experienced teachers could seriously affect students.
“It’s definitely going to have a horrible effect on students. Those are the teachers that are really into the content. They know what they’re talking about. They’re comfortable delivering instruction,” she said.
She is also concerned about finding enough qualified teachers in the future.
The report notes that the number of uncertified teachers increased after Texas changed its certification requirements about ten years ago to address the shortage.
Local data from the Houston area also shows how many teachers are certified.
According to data from the Texas Education Agency obtained by 13 Investigates, there were just over 4,000 newly certified teachers in the Houston area in 2021. By 2024, that number had dropped to fewer than 3,000.
Anderson thinks that making the certification process tougher would help produce better teachers over time.
“Anybody can’t be a teacher. There are nuances to teaching that everybody does not possess.”
House Bill 2 passed in the 2025 state legislature with the goal of helping strengthen the teacher certification process.
Click here to read the full University of Houston Education Resource Center report.
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