TEXAS, USA — There are more than 9,000 unfilled education-related jobs currently in the State of Texas.
Abilene Independent School District is trying to fill 35 job openings at this time. In San Angelo, there are 86 job openings at the San Angelo Independent School District to fill roles such as teachers, bus drivers and support staff.
"I think from here on out it is going to be far more challenging to hire teachers," Stacy Lind, Texas Leadership of San Angelo Elementary School principal, said.
Lind said to help better recruit and retain students; they are being creative with building relationships to help prevent the loss of teachers in the future while also filling those gaps.
"I've been making connections with ASU (Angelo State University), the education department, and I've been saying hey you know when May rolls around, you got graduates coming up. Send them my way, and we're building on that," Lind said.
While the damage to the profession may already be done, the Abilene Independent School District said there are reactive ways to recruit and retain quality.
Dr. David Young, Abilene Independent School District superintendent, said, "You know how many teachers you have to have by how many kids you have.
Young said the AISD is also having challenges with filling positions of other school community staffers at this time.
"We may have to put some bandaids on here in the fall, but we need to get back. To our regular staffing model as soon as we can," Young said.
As the delta variant of the COVID-19 pandemic increases, the AISD anticipates more need for teachers.
Click here to see what AISD school positions are open.
