Chalk Beat New York – Geoff Decker
“When Principal Michael Shadrick posts a job opening at Williamsburg Preparatory School, he doesn’t worry about finding teachers to apply. Shadrick and the small high school’s hiring committee received more than 100 applications for just three positions this spring. When Shadrick posted a different opening for a teacher certified in English as a second language, he sorted through another 30 applications before choosing two finalists. That scenario might have played out differently in Nashville, Oklahoma City, or a number of other urban school districts struggling to fill positions before this school year begins, as the New York Times reported this month. California alone had more than 21,000 new teaching slots to fill this year but issued credentials to just 15,000. The demand to work at Williamsburg Prep is emblematic of a different reality in the Empire State, which has many more aspiring teachers than classrooms for them to fill. While recruiters elsewhere are increasingly relying on people without teaching credentials to fill positions, New York’s excess supply gives principals the chance to be selective when reviewing résumés.”(more)