Education & Affordable Housing
In the past three years, Houston has seen a decline in the teacher shortage, and while HISD and University of Houston officials interviewed on Friday, have different explanations, the consensus is that higher pay for teachers would make the profession more attractive.
“Universities are not graduating enough teachers so we have double the number of interns we train through our Alternative Certification Program,” said HISD Human Resources Executive Manager Beatrice Garza, who oversees and manages the full operations for all of HISD’s human resources divisions.
According to Garza, the city’s international appeal and demographics create a higher demand for Bilingual and ESL teachers; therefore Bilingual education and ESL are among the areas with the highest shortages.
“A lot of the students are first generation and speak mainly their native language, but the majority of those who graduate, get certified in elementary and the more traditional subjects such as English/Language, Arts, History, Social Studies, Health and Physical Education.”
Special Education, Mathematics and Science also rank high in the overall shortage, but “not enough young people consider education a viable profession,” said Garza.
According to School of Education Assistant Professor Dr. Andrea Foster, enrollment at the school of education is consistent but the teaching profession continues to be regarded as a less attractive one because it is a “very difficult job with very low pay.”
“We all know how valuable teachers are,” said Dr. Foster. “But we give them no respect when it comes to pay. This is where the solution lies, in finding funds to pay them competitively.”
Foster said enrollment numbers reached 2,992 in the last reporting period (Fall 2002), a competitive figure in comparison to other UH programs with the exception of the school of natural sciences, with 3,410 students, the business school, which accounted for 6,231 students and the humanities programs which had the highest number at 8,212.
“HISD’s shortage used to be much greater two years ago,” said Dr. Foster. “Because certification is now easier and faster through alternative programs offered at school districts and service centers, the need is being serviced and the shortage has decreased.”
Foster added that this “quick fix” is not the best solution as many who go through the alternative certification process are not fully prepared and make up a significant portion of those teachers that leave the profession within the first three to five years.
Teachers who go through traditional certification programs that offer field experience know what the profession is like and are better prepared, so they typically stay, said Foster referring to the Pedagogy, Urban Multicultural Action program.
PUMA is offered to undergraduates and consists of courses taken at UH and in public schools in preparation for the student teaching phase, which operates in HISD, Pasadena, Humble, Spring Branch, Katy and Cy-Fair.
According to Garza, an estimated 75 percent of HISD’s new hires come from traditional programs in Texas colleges and universities.
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