Fort Worth district looks to recruit teachers in California
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
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FORT WORTH -- Billboards touting teaching jobs in Fort Worth will soon go up in San Francisco.
The Fort Worth school district's multistate search for highly qualified teachers -- mostly in math and science -- has garnered much media attention. District officials have been making high-profile pitches in California news outlets. Superintendent Melody Johnson recently received a Sunday morning query for an interview from a San Francisco radio station.
That interest prompted this latest billboard push, which will cost the district $17,625.
"The story had traveled to San Francisco," said Clint Bond, spokesman for the district. "We want to widen the reach a little bit."
What's new
A recruiting team from Fort Worth schools heads to San Diego next week to interview about 30 candidates. The district received 1,340 applications from Jan. 1 to May 1. During the same period last year, the district had received 529 applications.
Hired
Four from Michigan
50 from Mexico
50 from Puerto Rico
Most of the teachers from Puerto Rico and Mexico are elementary-level bilingual teachers. There are also English, math and science teachers among the new hires.
Background
This spring, the district began touting its teacher recruitment efforts on billboards in Dallas-Fort Worth, El Paso, Detroit, San Diego and Jacksonville, Fla. Demographic and economic trends were used to pick the cities.
The district hopes to draw strong teachers with a compensation package, signing bonuses and incentives for math and science educators willing to work in middle and high schools.
Teachers in the Fort Worth district make $44,500 to $66,800 a year, depending on experience and number of degrees.
The campaign has received media attention in San Diego, where hundreds of teachers have received layoff notices on the heels of California's fiscal crisis.
"We're getting calls from all over from people wanting to recruit our teachers," said Camille Zombro, president of the San Diego Education Association.
Many San Diego teachers have received "cutting edge" development, Zombro said. Among other employers courting San Diego teachers are Las Vegas County schools, Arizona schools and area police and probation departments.
California workers have been lured to Texas in the past -- Zombro began her teaching career in Dallas. But she said some teachers may hesitate to move to a nonunion state. Zombro said there is also concern that the loss of talented teachers could hurt California in the long run.
"We're going to fight to keep them here," she said.
What's next
Billboards in San Diego will get a sash -- a diagonal message across the bottom left corner -- reading, "Recruiters here May 14-16."
Online: More about the teacher recruitment campaign, www.teachfortworth.org, www.fortworthisd.org
dianesmith@star-telegram.com
