As Bowie students are moving to the 2nd nine weeks of school, classes with substitute teachers are finally being assigned certified teachers to fill positions. Schools across Texas have been experiencing a teacher shortage. As a result of limited staff, some of Bowie’s chemistry classes were left without a teacher for the first nine weeks of school. AISD has recently hired additional teachers to fill this gap, one being chemistry teacher Tate Farmer, who is filling the empty position at Bowie. This has caused schedule changes for some students.
“There are a lot of people passionate about teaching and making sure the younger generation has what they need to go and succeed,” Farmer said. “I think that’s what draws people to the job.”
According to the Learning Policy Institute, the United States had more than 400,000 teacher positions that either weren’t filled or were filled by someone uncertified in the 2023-2024 school year. According to the Texas Tribune, almost 40% of new teacher hires were uncertified across Texas.
“I think it’s definitely a shame,” Farmer said. “Teachers are very important and you can’t really have a functioning society without people who understand the world around them and that can think critically so I definitely think there needs to be more done to fix that shortage.”
For the first nine weeks of school, students that did not have a chemistry teacher were left with a permanent sub. These students had to find different ways to learn the material without the typical class instruction and one-on-one support of a trained chemistry teacher.
“I have to teach myself a lot of the curriculum and look at the slides and notes on my own time,” sophomore Maddy Nixon said. “I watch YouTube videos about chemistry and I go to other chemistry teachers first.”
With this change, students are having to adjust their learning strategies. Some think that the classroom setting could change with someone new taking over.
“It will be a little weird having someone who is here permanently,” sophomore Hadley Hilton said. “The new teacher might have a different teaching style than the sub.”
As Farmer has taken over the class, students are learning how to work in a more structured classroom. Farmer is working to build relationships with his students as he settles into teaching at Bowie.
“The first thing that I tried to do coming in was to really try and build a relationship with the students in my class and make sure they get to know about me, ” Farmer said. “I’ve been trying to make it clear that my students can ask questions and I try not to be intimidating.”
Farmer is working to catch students up in areas that were not adequately covered before he took over. He has encouraged students to ask questions when they’re confused so he can provide help to those who struggled with the sub.
“Teachers have a lot of different responsibilities,” Farmer said. “They not only have to know the material that they are teaching but they also need to play the role of social workers and make sure that all the students’ needs are met, it’s a lot for one person to do.”
With the increase in teachers across AISD, class sizes are able to decrease. These smaller classroom sizes will allow for more direct instruction.
“I’m happy that we have a teacher now,” Nixon said. “I think that a lot of students that had the substitute will learn from a permanent teacher more and I’m glad that Bowie is receiving more staff.”
