CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Governor Greg Abbott recently asked the Texas Education Agency to put together a task force aimed at looking into teacher shortages.
However, the process has not gone without criticism from teachers.
The Texas Teacher Vacancy Task Force contains 28 spots in total. Out of those spots, 26 of those are superintendents and human resource officers. Only two spots are filled with current classroom teachers.
Roland Hernandez, Corpus Christi Independent School District Superintendent, along with Brandon Chandler, Chief Human Resource Officer with Gregory-Portland ISD, were both selected to serve as representatives on the task force.
3News was able to speak with Chandler regarding the progress that is being made by the group.
"As hiring managers across the state for districts, we've noticed that it's been increasingly more difficult to find teachers to fill vacancies," Chandler said. "And so we voiced our concerns to the TEA and state legislators that we need to do something."
Chandler plays a vital role in human affairs within the district. He said that getting the voices of teachers has been his top priority within the task force.
"One of the things we've been tasked with is getting teacher voice, getting their input, hearing what they have to say, and so we're working to put together a survey that we can push out to all of the teachers in the region," Chandler said.
With teacher shortages proving to be an ongoing problem in area school districts, Chandler believes the task force is doing good in expanding.
"You know, it shows that the TEA is listening to us and taking our feedback and making necessary changes," Chandler said. "So that they are supporting not only the state, but local districts as well."
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