Even before the pandemic, he believes Georgia was already in a pretty good spot in terms of leveraging innovative technologies in the classroom, says Keith Osburn, deputy superintendent for technology services and chief information officer for the Georgia Department of Education. So by March 2020, teachers and administrators already had a variety of tools in their wheelhouse.

Located about 60 miles south of Houston, the 11,500-student district doesn’t have a big college of education nearby to churn out new teachers. It’s hard to compete with larger districts in the region for talent or convince educators to move to the small town of Clute, where Brazosport ISD is based.

Five decades ago, the U.S. was training an army of college students to become teachers, with 1 in every 5 bachelor's degrees earned in the field of education. Today, college students are more likely to study business, engineering, and even the visual and performing arts.