A critical teacher shortage has the Detroit Public Schools Community District pushing for new teacher hires ahead of the Fall 2017-2018 school year.
Today, they’ll host a teacher hiring fair at the Ben Carson School of Medicine in Detroit. It’s the second large-scale hiring fair for DPSCD since May.
While new teachers of all backgrounds are being sought, a specific need is in secondary mathematics and science, special education, early childhood, world languages and bilingual instruction.
James Baker, a deputy Superintendent, told 7 Action News that they’ve made big strides in the past year hiring teachers. It was only a year ago that the Detroit Public Schools Community Districts needed roughly 200 teachers.
“We’re getting there,” said Baker, “but we’re still averaging about 100 classrooms that are truly vacant, meaning we have to get inventive with what we’re doing in classrooms.”
That makes hiring fairs more important than ever. The district was involved in more than 25 hiring events between Michigan and Ohio last year. That helped dent the critical need for teachers, but a large numbers are still needed. Making matters worse, Baker said that numbers coming in from Wayne State and Michigan State indicate that the new teacher pool may be 38-percent smaller.
Candidates interested in a teaching position with DPSCD are encouraged to visit http://detroitk12.org/employment/ and complete an online application for the appropriate job posting in preparation for the upcoming Teacher Career Fair.
The event is being held from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. This event is for new applicants only. Teachers already employed by the district do not need to attend.
