Earlier this year, districts were anticipating a worst case scenario which never came to be. Instead, districts all across Texas do have the resources to hire teachers and they are doing just that. Districts, like the state’s largest, Houston ISD, will additionally hire back hundreds of teachers who were prematurely laid off earlier in the summer. Other districts, like Austin ISD, even have surplus money to give bonuses to teachers and maintain small class sizes.

“The resources are obviously much better than anyone would have thought, now we just need to communicate that message to the public,” said Stephaney Kennedy, Deputy Executive Director of Texas Teachers.

Although many districts are in fact going back and re-hiring some of the previously laid off teachers, they are not re-hiring all of them in order to open up some of those positions for new teachers who many consider to be better suited for the new challenges in today’s classroom.

This year’s hiring season got off to a late start due to the budget hold up, but now most districts are saying the hiring season will run much longer than normal.

I want to personally reach out to all of our candidates at Texas Teachers who are interested in starting on the path to teaching and tell you the great news about getting hired.

The short answer: A strong hiring season is now fully underway.

After many months of politically exaggerated stories, the stalemate in Austin finally ended with a favorable budget passed. The funding level is almost exactly like last year with only a 3% difference.

Just as our state constitution requires, our classrooms will be properly staffed.

Now that the uncertainty is gone and the money is there, districts can do what they normally do this time of year—hire teachers. And that is exactly what is happening. Thousands of people all across Texas are currently being hired to teach at districts, charter and private schools.

But before you can participate in this job market, you still need to complete the application process with Texas Teachers. Specifically, we need your official transcripts as the next step to getting started (contact our office if you have already sent them to us).

Once you are admitted into the program, you can immediately begin your training and testing. For a limited time, we would like to extend you the special pricing of only $295 to get started. Remember that we help share the risk of employment, so this is all you owe until you get hired.

When you are ready to enter the job market, Texas Teachers helps you become as competitive as possible to get hired. We offer you numerous resources for this preparation, including the Get Hired page, webinars on resume writing, and seminars on “How to Get Your First Teaching Job.”

Please feel free to call us or come in to one of our local offices to speak to an Advisor about your route to the classroom.

We look forward to helping you start your dream of teaching!

Thank you,

Vernon Reaser
President
Texas Teachers

The final budget will only cut about 3% from last year, an amount that districts say they can easily manage. Further, districts around the state are already talking about raising local taxes and spending from their own reserves to completely cover the gap. In fact, from such actions, many districts, like Mission ISD, expect to end up with more funds as compared to last year.

We expect a strong teacher job market to begin developing immediately and running well into September and October for the upcoming semester. In addition, we expect to see strong hiring in the Fall for the Spring 2012 semester.

There is a substantial amount of pent up demand for teachers that is ready to unfold. It’s time for you to get back out in the job market so you don’t miss the boat.

As the state finishes up on school funding and subsequently is providing much more money than earlier anticipated, districts all around the state, like Brownsville ISD, are pledging balanced budgets. Now that districts can finally begin to confirm they’ll have enough money for next year, we can expect to see the kick off of teacher hiring season in earnest.

These new funds could almost entirely close the remaining small funding gap for schools.

Over the last few months, Texas schools and the public have been unnecessarily panicked with daily reports on worst case scenarios regarding budget shortfalls. But in reality, the Texas House and Senate recently produced a school budget for next year that is 80% better than those worst case scenarios! The actual cuts next year would end up being only $1 billion, or just a 3% total reduction, which districts say they can manage. Now with this possible $2 billion more in rainy day funds targeted for schools, we could almost entirely close the funding gap for the following year. After that year, it’ll be time for a new legislative session and there will be a much stronger economy in which to create a new budget that should be able to fully fund schools.

The state constitution requires that our schools be properly funded, and that’s exactly what happened, despite all the extreme stories we’ve been subjected to.

In addition, many experts say that even more funding will be available for schools as the individual school districts raise their local tax rates, as well as spend from their own reserves. This new revenue would be on top of state funding, ensuring that school funding close any remaining funding gaps.

Districts are breathing a sigh of relief now that we all know that the budget for next year will only be reduced about 3% for each district. Districts say this reduction is an amount they can handle. Districts will further attempt to close that 3% gap by spending from their own rainy day funds as well as raising local property taxes.

“This is a significant improvement from where we started,” said Rep. Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills. “I think the local districts will be very pleased at where we’ve come since the beginning.”

Remember that we said we have confidence and to hold on to your dream of teaching because Texas must have teachers!

Money for public schools comes primarily from revenues generated by the state that increase or decrease with the economy. As Texas continues to lead the nation in its economic recovery, we have increased funding available to support our education system. The turnaround is already here, demonstrating that any school budget cuts will be short lived.

Things are looking much better and the state should have enough funds to sufficiently staff Texas classrooms.

Mark Rogers, a secondary math teacher at Westwood High in Round Rock ISD, is announced recipient of the 2010-11 Texas Teachers Teacher of the Year Award

HOUSTON, TX – Texas Teachers, the state’s largest alternative certification program, has announced Mark Rogers, a Math teacher at Westwood High School in Round Rock Independent School District in the greater Austin area, as the winner of its 2010-2011 “Teacher of the Year” award. Rogers has been chosen from a rigorous selection process from a pool of approximately 3,000 successful new teachers from across Texas. The winner exemplifies the potential of alternate route teachers and the success they achieve during their first year in the classroom. This prestigious award comes with a cash prize of $2,500 along with an additional $2,500 awarded to the campus. Texas Teachers officially recognized Rogers outstanding achievement by formally presenting the award on the Westwood High campus.

Rogers received enthusiastic nominations by both his principal, Rebecca Donald and his Texas Teachers professional coach, Sarah Coy. Of Rogers, Donald called him: “one of the most outstanding first year teachers I have worked with in my twenty-seven year career in public education. He is an exceptional model of professionalism in his manner, his consistent high level of performance, and his positive attitude toward students.”

Mark Rogers exemplifies the unique opportunity an alternate route teacher has to bring real world experience into the classroom. Rogers entered the teaching profession in 2010 after achieving success in the private sector. Rogers utilizes his industry experience as a financial analyst to inspire his students to achieve in mathematics and understand its importance in the real world.

The quality that most distinguishes Rogers as an exemplary teacher is his personal commitment to every student learning. He has engineered creative strategies to ensure that every child in his classroom is engaged and successful. From recording songs about math to creating focused tutorial sessions and mentoring struggling students, Rogers refuses to rest until every student is learning.

Principal Becky Donald accepts $2500 from Clay Mefford of Texas Teachers on behalf of Westwood High School

As Donald states, “Mark Rogers is a teacher in the truest, highest sense of a calling to educate young people,” and Texas Teachers finds him exemplifying the success that people can achieve through the alternate route to certification. Rogers found his calling to teach after working for several years in the global financial economic world. Alternative certification programs like Texas Teachers give people like Rogers the opportunity to become a teacher without having to go back to receive another degree in education from a traditional university. Of the two major certification routes, the alternate route produced over half of all new teachers in Texas this school year. More and more, teachers from the alternate route are gaining recognition as many of the best teachers in the state. School districts have also realized the unique benefits alternative route teachers have in sharing their experience and diverse backgrounds in the classroom.

About Texas Teachers: Texas Teachers, the state’s largest alternative certification program, provides a streamlined route to turn the dream of teaching in Texas into reality. With regional offices in Houston, San Antonio, Dallas/Fort Worth, and Austin, Texas Teachers is one of the industry’s premiere teacher certification programs. Serving every region and district in the state, Texas Teachers offers world class training, delivered in both blended face to face and full online training options to individuals transitioning to a career in education in Texas, regardless of where they live or want to teach. For more information, visit our web site at TexasTeachers.org or via telephone at 877.888.2640.