Throughout the pandemic, school district leaders across Texas have been in dire need of more teachers, but the possibility of a new teacher certification exam could make new applicants jump through another hoop.

Official numbers show that 4,000 teachers left the profession compared to last year, while much newer teachers in their careers accounted for a third of all Texas teachers. Most of them are in districts with mostly low-income and minority students such as Hispanic children.

On Friday at a state board for educator certification meeting, members voted in favor of a new teacher certification exam called the Educative Teacher Performance Assessment, or edTPA.

Teachers would have to provide sample lesson plans and even record themselves teaching an actual class.

One board member from the Valley found the possible implementation of the new exam confusing. The exam would cost $200 more than the current one. The difference is the new proposed exam would measure the teacher's performance with actual students.

It's expected that the State Board of Education will make a decision on this new exam in June.