One of the ways lower level governments can influence the ones above them is to experiment with public policy.
This looks like an innovative approach to developing teachers.
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The Brazosport Independent School District is always in need of more teachers — and for a long time, it wasn’t able to find enough.
Located about 60 miles south of Houston, the 11,500-student district doesn’t have a big college of education nearby to churn out new teachers. It’s hard to compete with larger districts in the region for talent or convince educators to move to the small town of Clute, where Brazosport ISD is based. Over time, classroom sizes grew as vacancies stayed open.
That’s why the district created its own pipeline. Last August, it launched a unique “teacher apprenticeship” program that allows aspiring teachers to earn a bachelor’s degree and teacher certification — at no cost. In return, the teachers have to work in the district for at least three years. The plan includes a paid residency program in which apprentices are paired with a teacher mentor and work with them in a classroom for a full school year.
“When the first bell rings for Brazosport ISD next [school] year for these folks, they’re going to be considered a rookie, but they’re not a rookie. We say it's not Day 1. It's actually Day 181 for our teacher residents,” said Becky Hampton, a senior education specialist working with the district.
Public education advocates are following the program with high hopes, believing it could become a blueprint for other Texas districts as they look for ways to stem the state’s critical teacher shortage.
Kristi Kirschner, chief human resource officer at Brazosport ISD, said the program started with 67 apprentices ranging from high school students with less than 30 college hours to participants with bachelor’s degrees.
Twenty-five teachers graduated from the program in time for the upcoming school year. Without these homegrown teachers, the district would have had to hire close to 60 teachers — now it needs to find just 35 more.
“It’s something we smile about often,” Hampton said.
