ECTOR COUNTY, Texas — In 2019, Ector County ISD announced that they had over 350 teacher vacancies. This year, they had just 42.
But with the newest teaching program introduced at a press conference today, they aim to bring that number to zero.
ECISD, UTPB and Odessa College held a joint press conference today announcing the newest teaching program being brought to the schools.
It's called "The Registered Apprenticeship Program for Teachers" and it offers students who are interested in teaching the opportunity to get hands-on training while they are still going to school.
It also promises to cover tuitions and fees associated with earning a bachelor's degree and pay the apprentices at the same time.
"First and foremost, it will remove the barriers and the financial barriers that exist for students. That includes tuition or transportation barriers or other barriers that sometimes limit people from coming to college or becoming a teacher," ECISD Superintendent Dr. Scott Muri said. "Secondly, it will provide an internship experience, or an apprenticeship experience for these individuals to work with our very best teachers in the Ector County school district.”
It's the partnership between UTPB, ECISD and Odessa College that allows apprentices the chance to get paid while having potential financial burdens covered.
“The ability to not only have funds for tuition and fees but also funds to support child care and transportation expense, all the things that someone may struggle with in order to be successful," UTPB President Sandra Woodley said. "I think it’s just an opportunity for us to have a greater impact than this is so important within the Permian Basin.”
By training students within the county, the hope is that they will stay local to teach the next generation of students.
“Once you are completed we want to hire you back into ECISD so that you can serve our students: Pre-K through 12th grade," Muri said. "It’s all about developing our very best, helping them become educators and bringing them back into the school system to serve the needs of our kids.”
Of course more teachers are always necessary. There are already nine similar pathways that exist within the school systems to bring more aboard.
Even so, when a tenth pathway was put on the table, everyone gave it a thumbs up.
“We know we need more teachers and we know we need to produce more," Odessa College President Dr. Gregory Williams said. "So, when our friends at ECISD say this is an option that we think will really help, let’s add that tenth pathway, the others on the team, we’re all onboard."
But who benefits the most from this? According to Dr. Muri, it’s not the apprentices or the teachers.
It’s the students.
"We'll ensure that our vacancy rate can go from where it is today to zero. The goal is to have a highly qualified and highly effective teacher in every classroom," Dr. Muri said. "This is one more way that we will be able to do that in our community. So kids win today because of this opportunity."