, according to a report from the Texas Education Agency's Teacher Vacancy Task Force.
Several school districts in the Houston area have implemented an incentive program in the past to recruit more bilingual teachers.a $5,000 stipend to teachers working in bilingual education and special education. In the 2022-23 school year, the district was short 18 bilingual teachers, Meyers said, noting the district has 1,281 emerging bilingual students and 40 certified bilingual teachers.
When comparing Houston to Edinburg, which is near the Mexico border, both areas share similar percentages of emerging bilingual students — about 44 percent in Edinburg to 45 percent in Houston, according to data provided by the nonprofit. "The demand is much greater in a major cosmopolitan market like Houston, where the diversity is so much higher, we're seeing so many more language backgrounds coming into the school system," Orduña said." Houston I have to have my materials translated into maybe four or five different languages for my campuses...it's a really heavy load for school administrators and teachers...to carry. And the burnout is much higher.""The test is hard," she said.