Heath Morrison Superintendent

Chairman Buckley and distinguished members of the House Public Education Committee:  Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My name is Dr. Heath Morrison, and I am the CEO of Teachers of Tomorrow, the state’s largest alternative certifier of Texas educators. I have held this position for just over a year. As a career […]

As education leaders have anticipated an increasing teacher shortage in the United States, with predicted retirement rates hitting an apex by 2035 and schools of education declining in enrollment each year, there has been a growing acceptance of alternative certification programs, or ACPs, to fill the void.

As most superintendents can attest, there seems to be a never-ending number of challenges and obstacles to address, often completely outside the core focus on teaching and learning. While it may be common to suggest that current circumstances are the "most challenging to date", that adage may well be true in today's very difficult environment for public education.

For the better part of the last decade, as I have engaged with my fellow superintendents from across the country regarding the most challenging issues confronting public education, the looming teacher shortage was always high in the topics discussed. Over the last few years, this issue has risen to the top of critical issues that […]

After the war in Vietnam, it was common for those who served in the military to be publicly berated for their service. It has been a wonderful transformation to see how that has shifted in recent years. My father, a proud member of the Air Force, would come to tears when his military career was […]

Many state legislatures across the nation have convened for their annual legislative session. A handful, including Texas, hold regular sessions every two years and are in the midst of their off-session year. Yet for many states, what is typically a three to four-month “sprint” to consider thousands of bills is underway. Constituents, lobbyists, industry professionals, […]

School districts often struggle to balance the needs of all children under the financial constraints in which they operate annually. While this has long been the case, the severity of recent inflationary costs that all sectors have confronted across the country has been particularly impactful on public education. While an unprecedented infusion of federal funding […]

A strong, dedicated and effective teacher workforce is the cornerstone of a successful education system. State lawmakers can play a critical role in conditioning the environments in which teachers work and students learn. With the current teacher shortage impacting schools across the nation, it’s now more important than ever for lawmakers to do more than […]

As schools across the country opened this month, the usual first-day question of “Who is my child’s teacher?” must now include: “And are they qualified?” By 2025, it is expected there will be over 300,000 teacher vacancies nationwide. To fill these gaps, many states are turning to the stop-gap measure of granting emergency or provisional […]

I’m always appreciative when someone knows my background as a superintendent and industry leader in education and tells me how much they value teachers. Usually, it’s to share stories about how a teacher helped shape their life or the extraordinary impact teachers are having on their children. Political leaders from both sides of the aisle […]