Teacher Shortage Has Bay Area School Districts Vying For Top Talent
SAN JOSE (CBS SF) -- Students in many parts of the Bay Area went back to school Monday, but a lot of districts are facing a shortage of qualified teachers.
Bay Area school districts are battling for teachers, waging what amounts to a money war. Some school districts are going to great lengths to attract top talent.
Marisa Hanson, president of the East Side Teachers Association in San Jose agreed that these are boom times for teachers.
Hanson says, statewide, we are short about 10,000 teachers.
A quick scan of teaching jobs on edjoin.org, shows dozens of openings for practically every district.
Hanson said, "Right now, the only way to get teachers is to take them from other districts."
And so districts are offering big incentives.
Oakland Unified has a $1,000 signing bonus for special education teachers. In San Jose's east side union, a special education teacher, speech pathologist or psychologist can get a $2,500 signing bonus. But in Concord and Pittsburg, a special education teacher can get a $5,000 signing bonus.
Hanson said, "To get that first payment you know, as soon as you start working, as a little bump, people are exciting about that."
San Jose Unified has made a conscious effort to recruit creatively.
There is a 7 percent bonus, however it's for this year only, as well as a salary match for lateral transfers, and they have lifted the cap on the number of transferrable years so that teachers can maintain their seniority.
What's more, they've started a buddy system that pairs a staffer with new applicants so they don't slip through the cracks.
Peter Allen, a spokesperson for the San Jose Unified School District said going to great lengths has worked.
"We're very close to being 100 percent staffed, going into the school year, which is fairly unprecedented," Allen said.
