Apr 6, 2008 8:37 pm US/Eastern
Maryland Works To Reduce Looming Teacher Shortage
BALTIMORE (WJZ) ―
The state of Maryland is hoping to reduce its looming teacher shortage by hosting its first teacher job fair.
As
Gigi Barnett reports, all of the state's 24 school districts are scouting for teachers.
It's the perfect hunting ground for teachers looking to land a job. They came from Calvert, Anne Arundel and Cecil counties looking for a position at the first-ever statewide teacher job fair. With a teacher shortage in the thousands, Maryland has plenty of room.
State School Superintendent Dr. Nancy Grasmick says school districts are hiring all types of instructors, but they're scouting for math, special education and science teachers.
"In Maryland, we're not producing enough science teachers. For instance in physics, maybe three or four teachers for 24 jurisdictions," she said.
For school leaders, the problem is one of supply and demand. Every year, Maryland needs anywhere between 6,000 and 8,000 instructors, but state universities and colleges only graduate about 2,400 teachers.
It's a shortage prospective teachers like Brianne Murphy are ready to bank on.
"I think every state has to do this because you need to draw people in from different places to get more people there," Murphy said.
The competition to capture and keep strong teachers is fierce. School districts around the state are offering signing bonuses, tuition reimbursement and, in some cases, free laptops.
"I think that's great. I haven't heard about any of those benefits but I hope to hear about some of them," Murphy said.
With more than 1,500 teachers, the state says the job fair was a success and may host it again next year.
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