Addressing Texas’ workforce crisis through education policy

Texas’ health care workforce, essential for the well-being of our rapidly growing population, is facing significant shortages. The future prosperity of Texas depends on our ability to equip the next generation with the skills and credentials required to meet the demands of tomorrow’s jobs, particularly in the health care sector. As noted in the Governor’s Task Force on Health Care Shortages hearing on Tuesday, the time to act is now — and the solution begins in our public schools and community colleges.

The Challenge: Too few Texans are prepared for the jobs of tomorrow

Texas is facing a deficit of nearly 45,000 nurses — a shortage that is projected to grow by over 10,000 by the year 2036. As Maja Djukic, of UT Health, noted during her presentation, Texas currently has more fully-staffed nursing program seats than qualified applicants to fill the seats. In fact, the number of nursing programs has been growing faster than the number of qualified applicants.

Today, only 36% of Texas high school graduates complete a postsecondary degree or credential within six years of graduation. This figure is alarming, especially considering that 63% of all jobs in Texas require some form of postsecondary credential. The gap between current educational outcomes and future workforce needs is stark, and it is particularly concerning in the health care sector, where a well-trained workforce is crucial to meeting the state’s needs.

The Solution: High schools can drive systemic change

The good news is that improvement is taking place in Texas public schools right now. When we look at the number of associate’s degrees. the number of level one or two certifications, and Industry Based Certifications (IBC), they’re going up — even as the state is working to make them more rigorous and better aligned with in-demand careers. About a third of high school graduates in Texas earned these credentials in 2023, which is a dramatic upturn. About 12% of those IBCs were in health science pathways, a small piece of the pie.

Building on Success: Leveraging recent legislative reforms

Texas has made commendable strides in recent years through legislative reforms such as House Bill 3 (2019) and House Bill 8 (2023). These laws have laid the groundwork for aligning public school financing with postsecondary outcomes, creating incentives for students to attain credentials of value even before they graduate from high school. However, the work is far from complete. For example, while 97% of Texas high schools offer dual credit opportunities, only 3% of students are earning an associate’s degree while still in high school. This discrepancy highlights the need for better alignment between high school and postsecondary education, ensuring that more students not only start but also finish these valuable programs.

We have seen promising models emerge in recent years that could serve as blueprints for future programs: Fox Tech High School in San Antonio, where students can earn an IBC in pharmacy phlebotomy, among other areas, at no cost; and Health Education and Leadership (HEAL) High School in Houston, which is a great example of an employer-partnership with Memorial Hermann.

Statewide Impact: The transformative role of rural high schools

But these programs hold an even greater promise for rural communities. During the last legislative session, lawmakers passed the Rural Pathways Excellent Partnership (R-PEP), modeled after a program that was launched in Brooks County to allow a network of small rural school districts to specialize their high schools and then allow students to choose which one they wanted to attend, even if it is in another school district. This is an important move towards greater equity between rural Texas schools and their urban and suburban counterparts in terms of program differentiation and course offerings.

Scaling Up: Thinking strategically to maximize impact

So, how can we scale these models? One of the things we hear from practitioners in the field is that the per-student allocation for some career readiness school models is not sufficient to meet up with the added cost that comes with increased rigor. But there are a lot of opportunities for small investments to have a large impact. By lifting the cap on the number of R-PEP programs, we can improve state data infrastructure and produce financial incentives for high-demand fields in the health care industry.

In addition to smart incentives, though, it’s important to have big goals. We should decide that every student in a Texas public high school should have access to a career-aligned credential of value by 2030. Then, we should identify what it would take to get there: What investments are necessary, and what portion of those investments should go towards supporting health care credentials? What portion should support other high-demand fields that are important for our state’s future success?

Success begins at the beginning

Our workforce challenges do not start in high school. We have work that we need to do throughout the entire K-12 system. The Texas Legislature has been taking important action on this in recent years, but, much like the rest of the nation, we are facing significant declines in student performance, particularly in math and science.

Here, too, data indicates that just having kids in school a little bit longer and providing additional days to the school year — reforms that were part of House Bill 3 in 2019 — is closing the gap in terms of math readiness. Expanding that program to include middle school would better prepare high school students, who would then be better prepared for college, career, or the military as well.

The future of Texas depends on our actions today

The future of Texas is bright, but only if we take bold steps to address the challenges facing our healthcare workforce. By investing in our public schools and community colleges, scaling proven educational models, and improving our data systems, we can ensure that Texas remains a leader in innovation and economic prosperity for generations to come.