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Nearly Half of Texas Teachers Want to Leave the Classroom

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A new study conducted by Sam Houston State University shows that almost half of Texas teachers are considering leaving the profession.

Among the record-high 46-percent who may leave their teaching jobs, 36-percent said compensation and working conditions were key factors that could drive them from the classroom.

Texas State Teachers Association President Donna New Haschke says the findings are not surprising because the state has not increased teacher pay and benefits or taken sufficient steps to ease overcrowding and provide up-to-date textbooks and technology.

Haschke says if half of Texas` teachers leave the profession, it will compound the state`s education problem because 53-thousand Texas classrooms are already staffed by inappropriately certified teachers. She says that doesn`t count the number of classrooms staffed by long-term substitutes.

According to the "Texas Teachers, Moonlighting, and Morale" report, the "average" Texas teacher makes just over 42-thousand-650-dollars each year and spends about 550-dollars of that money on school supplies each year.

The reports indicates that 33-percent of Texas teachers work an average of eleven hours a week outside of their teaching jobs just to make ends meet.

On average, those teachers would need to make an additional 68-hundred-dollars to avoid taking an extra job.

Haschke says the problems that face Texas teachers every day should be a top priority for legislators considering school funding.

The Senate Finance Committee is discussing a House plan that would reform how schools are paid for, and Senator Florence Shapiro is trying to add teacher pay raises and incentive pay to that legislation.

Haschke says education "reform" that doesn`t focus on creating a quality teaching force is doomed to fail Texas students.

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