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Phoenix school district looks to hire multiple positions for upcoming school year
An Arizona school district is hiring for the next school year, looking for teachers, school psychologists, speech pathologists and other positions.
PHOENIX - It's hiring season for school districts across Arizona and they're looking to hire new teachers for the next school year.
Arizona was already facing a teacher shortage before COVID-19 and we're taking a closer look at the challenges of hiring new teachers in the midst of a pandemic.
Washington Elementary School District just wrapped up its week-long virtual job fair. District officials say hiring is very competitive as the pool of qualified teachers has shrunk over the years and applicants are getting offers from several different districts.
"It's a challenge. You have all the districts competing for the same applicants," said Lydia Garcia, a recruiter for WESD.
Arizona's severe teacher shortage has only been exacerbated by the pandemic. According to a survey by the Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association, at the beginning of the year, there were nearly 2,000 vacant teaching positions. At a statewide job fair in February, just over 1,000 candidates participated.
"There's less students going to universities to become educators across the board, and that's been declining each year," said Garcia.
During its virtual job fair, about 160 candidates were interviewed. Recruiters at WESD say the district's reputation for providing extended support to new teachers is a big draw.
"They have a mentor that's assigned to them. We also have school coaches, our instructional coaches at the school are there for day-to-day needs, state standards, lesson planning, whatever they may need," said Garcia.
The district also provides an alternative pathways program, which fast tracks those with bachelor's degrees to the head of the classroom. The hardest to fill positions are in special education.
"We are looking for behavioral and emotional disability teachers. We are looking for special needs pre-school teachers," said Garcia.
WESD will host additional virtual job fairs in April and the summer.
Washington Elementary School District Careers - https://jobs.wesdschools.org
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