New teacher certification data point to policy solutions

The Texas Education Agency has released new data related to a topic of critical importance for the future of our state: our educator workforce. Preliminary Commit analysis demonstrates an encouraging decline in the hiring of uncertified teachers – as well as the continued importance of increasing access to high-quality and affordable teacher preparation pathways.

The Newly Certified and New Hire Teacher Dashboard has been updated with data from the 2024-25 school year. Using this dashboard, Texans can see the different pathways to the teaching profession taken by new hires across the state, as well as specific school systems.

By comparing this new data to previous years, we can see that the percentage of new hires entering the teaching profession in Texas without a certification has declined (slightly) for the first time in four years.

This is important because research from Texas Tech shows that students with uncertified instructors experience less learning on average and go on to have decreased earning potential as a result. Moreover, uncertified teachers are less likely to stay in the classroom compared to their certified peers, meaning an overreliance on these teachers only leads to continued workforce shortages in the long term.

That’s why it’s encouraging to see, across the state, school systems taking intentional steps to reduce the hiring of uncertified teachers, resulting in a 1 percentage point decline across the state from the previous school year. In Dallas County, that decline was even larger, going from 41% of new hires in 23-24 to 37% in 24-25.  

But that still means that over a third of the teachers who began teaching in Dallas County this school year did so with little to no formal training whatsoever – an unsustainable situation when less than half of the county’s students are meeting grade level expectations.  

The rise in uncertified teachers is driven largely by limited access to affordable, high-quality preparation pathways and the decline in educator preparation program completion rates, with roughly one out of four candidates completing their requirements since 2019.

We commend Dallas, Richardson, Duncanville and Irving ISDs for leading the region in employing strategies meant to increase students’ access to effective educators. Each school system has seen major reductions in their hiring of uncertified teachers that puts their rates well below county and statewide averages.

State policymakers should also be applauded for seeking systemic changes to address this pervasive issue. Senate Bill 2253, recently voted unanimously out of the Senate K-16 Education Committee, is the state’s most significant investment in financially supporting teacher candidates towards a path of high-quality certification.

SB 2253 provides financial incentives for school districts to partner with high-quality education preparation programs such as teacher residencies. Crucially, the bill also provides direct support for current uncertified educators to receive their certification. SB 2253  As demonstrated by the certification dashboard, Texas has added over 55,000 uncertified instructors to the educator workforce since 2020. This is a challenge, but also an opportunity – our school systems don’t need to rehire for every role, but they do need increased resources to fully develop the workforce they already have.

The Learning Policy Institute estimates that, on average, replacing a single teacher costs from $12,000 to $25,000 when considering separation, recruitment, hiring, and training expenses. Using this estimate, the cost of teacher turnover for Texas taxpayers is roughly $1.2 billion annually. SB 2253’s strategic investment in high-quality educator preparation pathways promises to reduce these costs by promoting retention, while also growing our economy by increasing the earning potential of young people across our state.