TEXAS, USA — Back-to-school time is right around the corner, and school districts across the nation are still struggling with an ongoing teacher shortage.
So, how are Central Texas school districts tackling this battle to get more teachers inside the classroom?
Many districts are in the process of interviewing and hiring people every day to prepare for the upcoming school year. Killeen ISD is looking to hire 60 to 80 employees with a starting salary of $57,000 for first-year teachers.
The district even started a marketing campaign in Puerto Rico to attract bilingual teachers.
It's not just teachers that districts are looking for either. From school nutrition to recruitment to communications, Killeen ISD Chief of Communications and Marketing, Taina Northington, says the district is always looking to hire someone who will support the overall goal of public education.
For Killeen ISD, the main barrier has been making sure candidates have the right qualifications to be certified teachers in Texas.
“We have people that are trying to work… they come in from having a certification from a different state to our state because a lot of times they're military related," Northington said.
Northington says it's all about inspiring those who don't realize they have the ability to be an educator.
"It's hard to find those who have the desire to teach," Northington added. "We're really looking to expand and show people that you can be a teacher in different ways. That doesn't mean the traditional path, but you can come out of a four-year degree and then transition to being a teacher. We've got programs and teacher prep programs that will help them with that."
Other school districts like Belton ISD say they are in a pretty good spot compared to some surrounding schools.
"We have 14 teaching vacancies right now, and we have 19 schools in our district," Belton ISD Superintendent Dr. Matt Smith said. "Seven of those teaching vacancies are for general education purposes and seven are for special education purposes. We hire every day. We're very blessed to be close to fully staffed with our teachers right now, but we're constantly on the lookout for good teachers. We know it's been a challenge."
Belton ISD said its main job is to support staff throughout the district to create conditions they can thrive in.
"On Monday, we just spent time with well over 250 new staff members in our school district talking about our culture, that we work hard to develop a culture that ensures that every staff member is valued, supported and challenged to grow," Smith added. "We also provide referral bonuses for current staff members that refer somebody who ends up getting hired, and we provide some signing bonuses for people that are coming in for those hard-to-fill positions. For example, those special education positions are hard to fill around the nation, not just our state, and as a school district, we provide an extra incentive."
For Belton ISD job listings, click here.
For Killeen ISD job listings, click here.
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