Currently, there are more than 10,000 job openings to teach in Texas. The state has faced a teacher shortage for years, but it became worse during the two-year pandemic.

Educators say there are ways to reverse the trend - and one is to add more support for teachers' mental health. Former second-grade educator Shelbi Varnell said the workload and stress of having to manage multiple responsibilities at the height of the pandemic finally drove her to check herself into a hospital.

"It got to me in such a way that I felt so overwhelmed, and so just defeated that I was crying," said Varnell. "And my daughter came to comfort me and she said, 'You're not going to leave me, are you?' And I couldn't give her a straight answer, so I put myself into the hospital."

Varnell said she didn't feel supported by her district and, as a single mother, it was tough to teach virtually and make lesson plans at home while her own child was sick.

In March, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the Texas Education Agency to create a Teacher Vacancy Task Force to work on the issues of attrition and retention, and how to better support educators.

Teachers say not only do they grapple with massive amounts of paperwork and face restrictions about what they can teach and say without risking their jobs, but low pay levels prompt many to juggle multiple jobs.

Coretta Mallet-Fontenot, who teaches 11th-grade English in the Houston Independent School District, said the switch from in-person to virtual learning made it harder to keep up with the curriculum and required testing - and also brought new challenges for her students.

"They too had to go to work when their parents contracted the COVID, and it became clear that COVID was striking elderly people, you know, harder than the younger folks," said Mallet-Fontenot. "Many of my students had to go work in order to help their families maintain."

The Teacher Vacancy Task Force will meet every other month for one year, and includes current classroom teachers and school administrators.

Mallet-Fontenot said she believes all professions start with good teachers. She said she's convinced that barriers can be removed, and said adequate pay is a way to show respect and value for the teaching profession.

"We don't want to just have a living wage," said Mallet-Fontenot. "We want to have a thriving wage. You know, there was a time in America where being a teacher was a very well-respected career."

Recent figures peg beginning teacher pay as low as $29,000, up to $41,000 a year. And research in 2020 found as many as four in ten teachers work second jobs.

Student loan forgiveness took center stage on Thursday at the American Federation of Teachers conference.

The Biden administration has canceled more than $62 billion in federal student debt for more than 871,000 public service workers nationwide, including teachers.

Presidential candidate Kamala Harris spoke at the conference, thanking educators for their work for children's well-being. She told them the administration sees a "future with affordable health care, affordable child care, and paid leave - not for some, but for all."

"We see a future where every student has the support and the resources they need to thrive, and a future where no teacher has to struggle with the burden of student loan debt," she said. "So, as an example, our administration has forgiven student loan debt for nearly 5 million Americans."

She pointed out that federal student debt relief plans, including the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, face potential threats from legal challenges and some resistance from Republicans in Congress.

A Pennsylvania recipient of student loan forgiveness introduced Vice President Harris. Brittany Shoup, a member of Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers Local 400, is a special-education teacher in the Pittsburgh Public Schools. Shoup said she had heard about the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, but most people who applied for it didn't receive it during the last administration.

"The Biden/Harris administration fixed PSLF and made the process easy," she said. "So I applied and later had my student loans forgiven. This is a huge weight off my shoulders. And now, I help my fellow teachers get the debt forgiveness they deserve."

The AFT conference wrapped up Thursday in Houston, with more than 3,500 educators in attendance.


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As summer winds down and North Carolina students prepare to return to school, the focus shifts to the urgent need for better public education funding.

The future of North Carolina school funding may hinge on Leandro v. North Carolina a decadeslong court battle about the financial challenges many districts face.

Matthew Ellinwood, director of the Education and Law Project at the North Carolina Justice Center, stressed the crucial role of state funding in ensuring a quality education for every child.

"We're waiting to see what the decision will be for that but there's a lot at stake for families who are feeling these lack of resources in their schools locally," Ellinwood observed. "People need to understand the huge role that the state plays in funding our schools locally, because of what our Constitution said and the rights that it provides to families."

In recent years, the court developed the Leandro Plan, a comprehensive strategy to ensure the state meets students' constitutional rights to education, from early childhood education to college and career transitions. Earlier this year, the state court reheard the case, which could determine the state's obligations but there has been no ruling yet.

North Carolina ranks 49th in the U.S. for school funding, with 92% of students in underfunded districts. Ellinwood noted the Leandro Plan aims to bridge these gaps.

"To deal with the shortages that we're seeing in teachers across the state and the number of teachers who are leaving the profession," Ellinwood explained. "And get back the nationally recommended ratios for nurses, counselors and therapists. It's something that a lot of families are seeing are not in place in their school for their health and mental health needs."

Ellinwood predicted the plan would also help address the child care crisis in the state. He explained rising costs and the end of federal pandemic funds have worsened challenges for child care centers and schools, leading to closures.

"I think the state is doing some kind of Band-Aid to try to keep the system going but we really need a significant investment there and that is laid out in the Leandro Plan," Ellinwood emphasized. "In a really, again, comprehensive way, we need funding through different wages for the quality measures, to ensure that those are met and continue to be high quality."

State lawmakers have approved a $68 million emergency fund for child care. Despite it, the state Department of Health and Human Services warned of more closures this fall without more support.


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Some Illinois educators made their way to Texas this week for an American Federation of Teachers convention. AFT is one of the nation's largest labor unions for educators and school personnel, with nearly two-million members - including more than 100,000 in Illinois.

The organization promotes democracy, economic opportunity and quality public education. Earlier this week, AFT President Randi Weingarten spoke to attendees in Houston on the impact of public schools in Illinois and nationwide.

"Public schools are essential to our children's future and to our democracy. Every public school should be a place where families want to send their children, educators want to work, and all students thrive," said Weingarten.

Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to give today's keynote speech at the convention.

Illinois Federation of Teachers President Dan Montgomery echoes the union's reaction to President Joe Biden's announcement not to seek re-election. He expressed his gratitude for what he called Biden's "unwavering dedication" to the American people, including investments in public education.

The IFT also supports some issues unrelated to education. These include defending reproductive health and improving healthcare access, and fostering an economy that uplifts the middle class. Another battle many educators face is evolving technology aimed at youth. Weingarten called on social media giants to operate more responsibly.

"We're fighting back against the addictive and predatory practices of social media companies, demanding that they protect - not prey on - children, and we're focusing on artificial intelligence. AI can be a powerful tool, but there must be strong guardrails," she said.

According to the Illinois State Board of Education, there are 867 districts and nearly 3,900 public schools in the state, with an 88% graduation rate. The average annual teacher salary is $75,000.