School Districts Aggressively Recruit New Teachers

Persistent teacher shortages across the country have led many school districts to try aggressive new recruiting tactics. In many areas these recruiting strategies have all but eliminated teacher shortages. Fulton County, in Georgia, sent CD-ROMs to 10,000 student teachers; the discs feature techno music and flashy graphics, and emphasize the county's high starting salary. As a result, most schools in the district have no teacher vacancies for the first time in 10 years. Pay is a huge factor in teachers' decisions. Districts that can afford to raise salaries find their shortages disappearing, while states like Montana and North Dakota are losing teachers due to low pay. Recruiters complain that they must compete with other districts for qualified teachers.

"Some districts' long-term efforts to recruit and improve working conditions and salaries, coupled with the economic downturn, have produced surpluses," said Tom Carroll, the executive director of the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future. "But for every district that has enough teachers, somewhere else, there is a shortage."

The article, entitled "To Find Teachers, Raise Hand High and Yell, 'Me!'" appeared in the October 5th edition of the New York Times.

Published Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2002