King: Thankfully, state leaders have reversed course. They now understand the importance of certified teachers.

MCALLEN, Texas – Dr. Daniel P. King, executive director of Region One Education Service Center, says it was wrong of Texas to go down the ‘it does not matter if teachers are certified to teach or not’ road.

Speaking at an event hosted by McAllen Economic Development Corporation, King said there is now conclusive proof that students do better when taught by certified teachers. 

“People may not realize that over the last, I’d say, five to seven years – and certainly the pandemic exacerbated it – but approximately 50% of new teachers entering the profession are not certified,” King said. 

“They’re just going right in under some alternative processes that the state started allowing due to needing a responsible adult in front of in front of students.”

Thankfully, that approach is changing, King said. 

“The state has taken a big step in the legislative session that just ended to start really aggressively combating that and really looking at how are teachers prepared.”

King continued: “We now know that just sticking an adult with a degree in front of kids is not going to make for the most successful environment. So, the state is going to be investing a lot in internships, apprenticeships, allowing those entering the teaching profession to get an opportunity to intern or apprentice under great teachers before they take the responsibility.”

King said he remembers when the state of Texas started going down the road. He said it was more than a decade ago.

“I remember there were even some in state leadership that kind of questioned, is teacher certification really worth it? Does it make a difference? Is it just a piece of paper? Is it more of a barrier to entry?” King said.

“I guess you could call it an experiment; over the last decade, allowing large numbers of uncertified teachers into the classroom. But the results are in. The state itself, the state leadership has studied it, and they have determined that there’s a remarkable difference (between having a certified teacher and a non-certified teacher).

“They have determined that teachers that are uncertified leave the profession at large scale very quickly. They’ve determined that when they do stay in, the student results, the student performance is lesser on the average. So, certification makes a big difference.”

According to a 2024 report prepared by the Texas Education Agency, about 60% of newly hired teachers working in Texas in 2023-2024 were non-certified. The newly passed House Bill 2 will prohibit uncertified teachers from teaching core classes, and Texas has been given schools until fall 2026 to ensure that teachers teaching K-5 math and reading are certified.

King said having certified teachers can particularly help the Rio Grande Valley.

“Here in our region, we have a lot of people with degrees that are underemployed because they have degrees that there is really not the industry for here in the Valley,” King said. “There are large numbers of people with psychology majors, there are not that many psychology jobs in the area. It makes a huge difference.” 

King said a teacher certification improves a student’s overall academic performance. He also said the Rio Grande Valley has districts with teachers in a starting pay of $55,000 to $65,000 a year. 

“It [teacher certification] is an opportunity to completely change the economic trajectory of the family besides the number one goal which is to get a quality teacher in front of our students,” King said.

At the McAllen EDC event, Region One was presented with a check for $12,600 that will allow three McAllen-based teachers to get certifications. 

“It’s very, very important that our economic development corporations… often the big headlines are when a new factory or manufacturer comes to town. But investing in the individual citizens is just as important of a role for an EDC,” King said. 

“So, McAllen, I want to thank you for investing in your citizens. I want to thank you for investing in education and investing in helping us to build that teacher pipeline. Thank you.”

Editor’s Note: Reporter Daniela Capistran contributed to this story from Brownsville, Texas.

Editor’s Note: Here is a video recording of the McAllen EDC-Region One event:

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