With a busy teacher recruiting season on the horizon, Morgan Hill Unified School District staff noted that nearly half the local workforce of educators was discovered at the many recruitment events throughout the state—and even one outside the country.
Placing even more importance on these recruitment fairs is the statewide teacher shortage that has school districts competing against one another for a limited number of candidates with a slew of openings to fill every year.
According to the U.S. Department of Education, the number of college students enrolling in teacher credentialing programs has declined sharply from just over 700,000 in 2010 to less than 500,000 in 2014. Over the last 10 years, the number has decreased 75 percent, district staff reported.
“We are all concerned about the teacher shortage and the effect it has on student learning locally,” said MHUSD Human Resources Director Fawn Myers at the Feb. 7 board of education meeting as she laid out the district’s plan for the upcoming recruitment season. “I really feel like we’ve improved our marketing game. It really is a little bit about marketing when you’re out there.”
District staff is scheduled to participate in seven recruitment job fairs beginning Feb. 22 at California State University at Monterey Bay and March 9 at the Fresno State School of Education. They also have stops at National University in San Jose March 20, Santa Clara University March 21-22 and Sonoma State University April 7. But the largest recruitment event is held March 25 with the Santa Clara County Office of Education.
Last year, the district was able to find one teacher from outside the country as part of the California/Mexico Visiting Teachers Program, which MHUSD will again take part in March 15-17. That program is run through the California Department of Education and Secretaria de Educacion Publica.
In addition, district staff “maintains close relationships” with 15 universities by “accepting student teachers and interns and by sending information about recruitment and open positions,” according to the Feb. 7 agenda rationale.
Before the start of the 2016-17 school year, MHUSD was able to hire about 50 new teachers. In order to fill some vacancies left unfilled by certificated teachers, the district took other measures such as hiring more than a dozen instructors on Provisional Internship Permits. These instructors have not earned their teaching credential, but have experience in the classroom and are in the process of doing so, according to district staff.
As recent as the Feb. 7 meeting, the board approved a certificated waiver that allowed the district to fill an unexpected middle school science vacancy.
“Despite the shortage, our goal continues to be the recruitment of top talent,” the agenda reads. “Principals will assist with these efforts to bring the best possible talent to join the MHUSD team for the 2017-18 school year.”
