2022 Showcase Awards Certificate of Merit, Storytelling Category

As a new school year began in Fall 2022, Texas was reeling from a record number of teacher resignations. While leaders and districts looked for solutions to combat recruitment and retention challenges, some worried classrooms may continue to be left without qualified educators. But what was really behind the shortage? To find out, KXAN obtained thousands of exit surveys detailing why teachers left and the impact it has on students.

Kelly Wiley of KXAN-TV News discussed the investigative team’s coverage in the report, “The Exit: Teachers Leave. Students Suffer.” This four-part series earned the investigative team at KXAN a Certificate of Merit in the Storytelling Category of the 2022 Showcase Awards. The report examined a statewide teacher exodus that affected school districts trying to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The numbers also tell such a striking story,” Wiley said. “We saw more than 42,000 teachers retire or resign that year.” The issue going on with teacher retention in Texas public schools is that their incomes haven’t increased at the rate necessary to keep up with economic inflation and rising rent prices, she added.

The 2022 Showcase Awards Certificate of Merit recipient spoke with the Headliners Foundation’s Mark Morrison to discuss the award-winning series.