Educators are telling us it will take teachers – lots of skilled, well-trained teachers – to close the learning gaps sustained during the last year. But will those teachers be there when the districts start to hire? The pandemic didn’t create the challenges facing the teacher pipeline in Texas, but it has certainly made addressing that problem more urgent.

Our 10th episode of Intersect Ed, part of our legislative agenda series, examines the imperative to invest in and improve the teacher workforce in Texas.

In this episode, you will hear from Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath on increased challenges facing schools due to the pandemic; financial investments in how the state develops teachers; and the need to shift cultural perceptions of one of our most valuable professions.

You will also hear from Dr. Cathy Horn, the Moores Professor and Chair of the Department of Education Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Houston and the Executive Director of the Institute for Education Policy Research and Evaluation. To get a more expansive view of the challenges facing the teacher workforce in Texas, Raise Your Hand reached out to Dr. Horn to conduct a ten-year longitudinal study on the teacher pipeline. The report revealed a number of findings, some of which tell an unsettling story.

Listen now to learn why recruitment, development, and retention of the most promising future teachers must be a top priority for the state of Texas. Together, we have the opportunity to move the needle on the persistent inequities that exist in our teacher workforce and ensure the current health crisis doesn’t become a generational education crisis.