Photos: What Texas’ educator shortage looks like for one pre-K teacher

Michelle Cardenas quiets down the class during a phonics lesson on April 27, 2022. Her class of 30 students at Hillcrest Elementary School was split into two rooms after surpassing the state limit. “The more kids you have in there, the harder it is to get stuff accomplished,” Cardenas said. “It was literally like babysitting.” (Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune)

Michelle Cardenas has taught at Del Valle ISD for nearly two decades, but the 2021-22 school year pushed her to her limit — her district had dozens of teacher vacancies at the end of May.

That left Cardenas, a bilingual pre-K teacher at Hillcrest Elementary School in South Austin, overseeing two classes at once with 30 students total. She moved back and forth between the rooms, relied on aides to supervise her 4- and 5-year-old students and even used video calls to simultaneously teach both classes. If Cardenas has to do it again, she said, “I’d probably walk out the door.”

Educators across Texas have struggled through a teacher shortage, and many say the problem is exacerbated by low pay, political debates over curriculum and declining respect for the profession — not to mention a pandemic that has altered the way children behave and learn. This school year, the district said Cardenas’ school is 95% staffed thanks to job fairs and a $4,000 pay raise for new teachers.

But Cardenas still has doubts and fears. Her year started with a glimmer of hope when the school hired a second bilingual pre-K teacher, relieving some of her workload. But that teacher was quickly transferred due to staff shortages at another school. As more bilingual students were referred to Cardenas' class, it grew from five to 18 children, approaching the state limit of 22 students per class for pre-K through 4th grade.

“I hope I’m not in the same boat as I was last year,” Cardenas said.

Michelle Cardenas prepares classroom materials for herself and Alejo before the students come into the classroom on Apr. 21, 2022. Cardenas makes two copies of all materials, one for her class and one for Alejo's class. Cardenas had 20 students in her class and Alejo had 10. (Credit: Lauren Witte for The Texas Tribune)

Michelle Cardenas cleans up literacy centers and starts putting out math centers while the students watch a music video on Apr. 21, 2022. Pre-COVID, Cardenas would have five centers of four students. Now, for safety reasons, she has 10 centers of two students at a time in her room. (Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune)

tktk (Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune)

Cardenas teaches a vocabulary lesson on a video call connected to her second classroom of students. “I didn’t want them to feel like they were pushed out of my classroom — that they were still just an extension of my classroom,” Cardenas said. (Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune)

Teaching assistant Esperanza Alejo has students present their drawings to Cardenas’ class using a projector. After Cardenas’ class split into two different rooms — one managed by Cardenas and the other by Alejo — Cardenas was still responsible for planning curriculum for all of the students. (Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune)

Cardenas helps a student during class. (Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune)

Michelle Cardenas smiles while checking in on Alejo's classroom on Apr. 21, 2022. (Credit: Lauren Witte for The Texas Tribune)

Students look at worms during a library lesson, which they have once per week, on Apr. 21, 2022. (Credit: Lauren Witte for The Texas Tribune)

Cardenas watches over her students and receives hugs as students wait in the lunch line. (Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune)

Cardenas prepares a biscuit for one of her meals. She has a few small meals throughout the busy school day. (Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune)

Esperanza Alejo helps monitor students during nap time. Watching 30 kids alone is a safety hazard, so Alejo and Cardenas supervise nap time together in a third classroom that’s unused. (Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune)

Cardenas speaks at the annual Texas State Teachers Association convention in Houston on April 29, 2022. An active member of the association, Cardenas advocates for teachers and students. “I hate when people leave the teaching profession,” Cardenas said. “You want people to stick around, you don’t want people to get burnt out, you don’t want people to hate their job.” (Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune)

TK (Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune)

TKTK (Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune)

In the last few weeks of the 2021-22 school year, Cardenas works on scrapbooks for her students while spending time with her daughters. “They’ve made comments to me before like, ‘I wish you didn’t have to work today,’” she said. “It’s very hard because it’s like sometimes we, in our personal lives, give up certain things because we have the personal responsibility for our students.” (Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune)

Cardenas looks through pages of the scrapbook she is putting together on May 24, 2022. (Credit: Lauren Witte for The Texas Tribune)

Last: Cardenas talks with her husband, Rick, in their home. (Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune)

“It’s just this uncertainty of what’s going to happen,” Cardenas said about the teacher shortage. “It’s scary as a parent because who’s going to teach my babies? Like, who’s going to be left out there as a teacher to teach my own personal kids?” (Credit: Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune)

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