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KISD school officials head to Austin meeting with lawmakers over school funding, teacher pay

Right now the district only has a handful of positions open. That as districts from across the country struggle to attract educators.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Texas A&M University-Kingsville senior Savannah Garza will graduate in December with a degree in education -- and hopes to live out her childhood dream of being a teacher.

Garza told 3NEWS that she would like to try and find a job close to Bishop where she grew up and was inspired to become a teacher.

”I would have to say my high school teacher, Miss Jaimez at Bishop High School. She was a very good history teacher, and just growing up really, you play as a little girl. 'Oh I want to be a teacher' you know, school and that’s what really inspired me," she said.

Right now there’s a teacher shortage across the country and Garza could probably have her pick of where she wants to work. She’s heard all of the reasons why a lot of teachers have gotten out of the profession lately.

"I would have to say the pay, you see a lot on social media. What teachers go through, you know, with some kids behavior, the workload,” she said.

Kingsville Indepdnet School District has a number of plans in place to not only retain the teachers they have, but also to attract new ones. KISD Superintendent Cissy Reynolds- Perez told 3NEWS that she and other local education officials are heading to Austin on Wednesday. 

She’s hoping to hear from lawmakers about a plan to give educators like Harvey Elementary third grade teacher Elizabeth Garza, a big boost in pay.

”It’s great when you hear one of the legislators saying that we’re going to pay the teachers, you know, $10,000 more, but are they going to fund it every year? So, we need to make sure that when that is touted that everybody realizes we have to make sure we’re gonna do that every single year," she said.

The superintendent added that the district was able to fill a number of classroom teacher positions with those who had previously retired. They also have nearly 40 student-teachers and observers in the classroom.

    

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