AUSTIN (KXAN) —On Thursday, The Texas Education Agency (TEA) released its annual report. The report offers a look into how the state is doing when it comes to a number of topics in public education. Topics like school funding, teacher retention, special education evaluations, school safety and much more. It is also offers lawmakers, educators and families a look at what improvements need to be made. "This report not only tracks our progress, but also identifies areas where additional investments are critical to ensuring every student receives a quality education that prepares them for the future," said TEA Commissioner Mike Morath. One of the areas which needs improvement is year-over-year student outcomes. While college, career, and military readiness has improved, as well as college enrollment, areas like elementary students and middle school students are still struggling with math and reading. STAAR test results show a decline in readiness for 3rd grade reading and math, as well as 8th grade reading and math. Texas school closing due to lack of state funding, says district "We flat lined in some areas, we have had some improvement in some areas, but to your point particularly in math we have continued to see decreases in math achievement on STAAR," said Jake Kobersky, media relations director for the TEA. Following the Uvalde Robb Elementary School shooting, the state put an emphasis on school safety. The report shows improvements when it comes to mandated intruder audits to schools around the state with fewer unlocked doors being found. The report also takes a look at teacher retention for licensed and unlicensed teachers. It shows 64% of unlicensed teachers are leaving the profession after five years. "We are continuing to see increased rates of uncertified educators being hired to fill teaching positions in the classroom and this is a situation where school district leaders are forced to make these hires because they have vacancies and positions that need to be filled," Kobersky said. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many veteran teachers left the profession. Districts are still trying to fill those positions. "It's about making sure that those teacher candidates have the supports that they need," Kobersky said. "At the agency we say that the single most important in school factor for a student is having a high quality teacher, so this is of high priority for the agency to make sure we are doing everything we can to support our educator preparation programs, to making sure school districts have the resources they need." To see the full annual report click here.