Schools see rise in job seekers
11/17/2009
By ERIKA CAPEK The Brunswick News
The teacher shortage feared by public school systems in Georgia and elsewhere across the nation earlier this decade has gone the way of the dinosaur.
It's no longer cause for panic in Brunswick and the Golden Isles. Today, in fact, open certified teaching positions fill rather quickly in Glynn County.
The reason is a teacher glut. There are more teachers than there are jobs to be had across the country.
That's good news for the school system. With as many as 439 active applications today, there's no dearth of certified candidates.
Currently, there are only three open positions in Glynn County, including a full-time social studies teaching position at Brunswick High School and two part-time mathematics teaching positions at Glynn Middle School.
The school system says it began receiving more inquiries from prospective employees after introducing technology to the search process.
"Since we went to the online application system, we really hit a national audience," said Margie Varnadoe, assistant superintendent for human resources. "There's been a tremendous increase in the amount of applications since that period. We've also been able to reach more people in places like Ohio and Florida where we would have had to recruit before."
Jim Weidhaas, school system spokesperson, says there's several other factors that have contributed to the large application pool for the Glynn County school system.
"We've established the reputation as a school system that's at the forefront of things," he said. "We've been using data tracking to monitor how students are performing and ways to increase their performance. These results are getting noticed and people are coming here to see what we're doing."
Even with the glut, there's still some fields that take time to fill.
The areas and subjects which usually need teachers the most is special education, as well as math and science, Varnadoe said.
Becoming a substitute teacher is also competitive in Glynn County.
Applications are still being accepted, but substitute teacher training for new hires has been put on hold.
The school system has already hired about 100 new staff this year, giving it a total of about 300 substitutes.
Because there's more than enough candidates to choose from, the school system says they're able to hire the most qualified.
"Not only has the accountability and expectation been raised for the students, but also for our staff members," Varnadoe said. "We expect the best."
Not everything's grim for certified educators looking for a job in Coastal Georgia.
About 45 certified positions will open when the new, yet-to-be-built Risley Middle School opens in 2012.
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3 Comment
Bad Journalism
Another example of bad journalism from the BN. Not only are there grammar mistakes, e.g., "...there's several other factors that have contributed to the large application pool..." The article fails to mention the effects of the weak economy and chronic underfunding of schools by states and localities which results in under-staffing teaching positions. How will we compete in a global economy with too few teachers and the resulting inadequate education? Maybe the so-called "glut" of certified, unemployed teachers can get work in India, China, Korea, or Brazil.
gagrad
11/17/2009
What???
This is not true!
XD8VV
11/17/2009
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piercy
11/17/2009