Multiple local school districts are raising starting salaries for new teachers to $60,000 or higher. Many districts also started recruiting earlier in an effort to fill vacancies by the next school year.
Garland ISD is boosting starting teacher pay to $60,000, giving raises to current teachers and staff and giving signing bonuses between $500 and $1,000 to other employees.
"Our secondary math, science or English language arts and reading get an extra $3,000 as these are our highest need areas, much like many other districts around us," said Fort Worth ISD Chief Talent Officer Raul Pena. "We still can't keep up with the vacancies that we have because they've just been happening at a larger rate than usual," Pena said.
"It's not an attractive profession right now," said Steven Poole with the United Educators Association. "Not only is the pay low compared to other professions, the workload is immense. And there's a lot of people getting into the profession realizing this isn't for me."