In rural districts across Texas, the struggle to attract and keep teachers is only getting more difficult.

Some districts without any takers for open jobs have resorted to livestreaming instruction from other schools or having educators teach more than one grade.

And they're constantly working on creative ways to stop their teachers from being poached by better paying districts.

Brian Stroman, superintendent of the tiny Bloomburg school district near Texarkana, offers shorter work days, stipends for taking graduate-level courses, peer mentor programs, retention bonuses and more. Still, he routinely loses staff to schools in the Dallas area.

"We can give them the best working environment. I even cook for our teachers once a month," said Stroman, who needs about 30 teachers for his 286 students. "But 9 times out of 10, when they start here and leave, it's always for the money."

Lawmakers in Austin are debating teacher pay and school finance during the special session. Superintendents from rural districts say lawmakers have a chance to help them out by sending more money their way.

While getting teachers to leave big-city amenities for the more isolated country life has long been a challenge, school leaders say it's now tougher than ever.

"We're starting to hear now — and this is a new problem for the state — where rural districts will post a job and not get a single application," Texas Education Commissioner Mike Morath recently told The Dallas Morning News. Morath formed a rural school district task force in October to explore challenges and solutions to some of their problems.

Many rural areas have been hit hard by falling oil prices that have impacted local economies. Some are also facing significant state funding cuts from an expiring school finance provision that funneled money to them.

Texas has 663 districts in rural or non-metropolitan areas, which is about half the public school systems in the state. Morath's task force reported teacher recruitment and retention to be its top concern.

Community ISD is a modest 2,000-student district in a farming and ranching area straddling Collin and Hunt counties. About a third of the district's teachers left two years ago. A 30-minute drive to nearby districts could easily bump their salary by $10,000 or more.

"We were starting out at $39,000, but many others in the metroplex were at $50,000 or $52,000," Superintendent Roosevelt Nivens said. "Pay is definitely the biggest issue we have to tackle."

1 / 4Superintendent Roosevelt Nivens of Community ISD, in a classroom at Community Middle School in Nevada in North Texas. As with many rural school districts, his is struggling to get new teacher applicants. (Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer) 2 / 4A Nevada water tower stands over a home in Community ISD on Monday, July 24, 2017 in Nevada, Texas. Just like many rural school districts, CISD is struggling to get new teacher applicants.(Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer) 3 / 4The athletic complex and football stadium at Community High School in Community ISD on Monday, July 24, 2017 in Nevada, Texas. Just like many rural school districts, CISD is struggling to get new teacher applicants.(Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer) 4 / 4Nevada City Hall in Community ISD on Monday, July 24, 2017 in Nevada, Texas. Just like many rural school districts, CISD is struggling to get new teacher applicants.(Ashley Landis / Staff Photographer)

Teacher turnover for those districts as a whole isn't significantly higher than it is statewide. But data suggests that's because experienced teachers who've made a home in those areas stay a long time even as new talent is difficult to attract and keep.

More than half of the teachers in rural districts have 11 or more years in the field, according to staffing data from the Texas Education Agency. Urban and suburban districts tend to have a greater share of less experienced teachers.

In the 2015-16 school year, 96 rural districts reported no first-year teachers in their schools compared with only five districts in major metropolitan areas with no first-year teachers.

When jobs do come open in rural schools, few apply. Superintendents say it all boils down to money. The median beginning teacher salary for rural districts was $34,858 compared with the state's average starting salary of $45,507.

About a decade ago as a principal in Bloomburg, Stroman said he routinely had up to 30 applicants per teaching position. As superintendent, he now sometimes struggles to get even one as his district's starting pay is about $30,000. Nearby Texarkana ISD starts at about $40,000, while the Dallas area has many districts topping $50,000.

Because he couldn't find a teacher willing to move to his 286-student district to teach Spanish, high schoolers next year will have to earn their foreign language credit via a livestream from a teacher in another district.

Stroman, who is on the board of directors for the Texas Rural Education Association, said he and his colleagues are closely tracking this special session, where Gov. Greg Abbott made teacher pay and school finance a priority.

@EvaMarieAyala here is our letter about small school funding. Our Sup, Board Pres, my son and myself met with our Rep and Senator in Feb. pic.twitter.com/J9mxsZuf1j — Trey Eschberger ©️ (@TreyEschberger) July 26, 2017

Just Monday, the House's Public Education Committee heard one bill that could boost funding for many rural schools specifically by changing the state's small-school allotment formula.

Rural districts often struggle with issues like teacher pay because it can be more expensive to run smaller schools that serve fewer students.

Under the state's current system, districts with fewer than 1,600 students get an additional boost in funding through the allotment. However, those districts that serve a coverage area of less than 300 square miles receive an allotment that's nearly half the rate their peers receive.

This means the 473 districts with the smallest coverage area and low enrollments — mostly rural — get a smaller share of the bonus dollars available for districts, according to the Austin-based Equity Center. The center, which represents many small and medium-sized districts, estimates that eliminating the 300-square-mile rule would funnel $244.7 million to affected districts.

Brian Stroman is superintendent of the rural Bloomburg ISD, a 286-student school district about half an hour form Texarkana. (Bloomburg ISD)

For Stroman said that would mean an additional $392,000 a year to his district.

"The solution is right there in front of you," he said. "That would level the playing field. It would literally take care of all of my issues with teacher pay."

Passing a bill to change that rule could be difficult this summer. Similar legislation has been debated with no result at the Capitol for many years now. About a dozen related measures filed during the recent regular session died.

Meanwhile, with less than three weeks left in the special session, talk of unfunded or underfunded mandates makes rural school superintendents nervous.

Both Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick want to pass a bill with raises. Legislation being considered in the Senate could tap lottery revenue but would require school districts to dip into their own pockets too. Tuesday, House members discussed a plan that would pay for $1,000 raises using the state's rainy day fund.

Nivens of Community ISD noted that just last year his district bumped up salaries by more than $5,000 in some cases to try to be competitive. Providing additional raises on top of that from existing funds would hurt.

"Unless there's more state money, what do I do? Cut custodial staff? Cut bus routes?" Nivens said. "As a rural district, transportation is much more hazardous. We can't have kids walking to school with coyotes and snakes being a real issue."

Still, rural school leaders are encouraged that state officials are talking more about their specific concerns. They say that Morath's task force has been one of the most significant moves to address their needs in recent years.

The task force examined rural districts' challenges, primarily staffing issues, and offered various recommendations to help.

Those included loan forgiveness programs; a statewide clearinghouse for job applicants; and strong "grow your own" pathways in which high schoolers could earn college credit toward teaching degrees as they are encouraged to return to their communities.

It also noted that rural districts have a hard time because future educators don't hear enough about the benefits of teaching in such schools. The report suggested teacher prep programs offer observation or residency opportunities in such areas.

Hiring is, by far, one of my biggest challenges as a HS Principal. It gets harder each year. — Dr. David Averett (@DavidAverett) July 26, 2017

Stroman, who along with Nivens served on the task force, said getting future teachers excited about the close-knit communities in rural schools would go a long way in helping them.

"I know every kid here, and I know their parents," said Stroman, who grew up near Bloomburg. "If a teacher could see that connection and what it does for your classroom and how amazing it is, they would love that."