Whitfield recruiting teachers today

Published 10:49 pm Friday, January 27, 2006

As a result of retirement, transfers and growth in the student population, Whitfield County Schools usually hires 110 to 140 new teachers each year.

But with two new schools coming on line in the fall, officials say the system could hire as many as 160 new teachers this year.

“As we redistrict (for Beaverdale Elementary and New Hope Middle), we’ll have students leaving schools and some teachers moving,” said George Smalley, director of personnel. “We have to get information back on which students want to use our grandfather clause before we can get a grip on the exact number of teachers we’ll need.”

Administrators hope to find several prospects at the school system’s annual Teacher Recruitment Fair today from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Whitfield Career Academy on Maddox Chapel Road. About 200 potential new teachers are expected to attend.

“All our principals and administrators will be available for interviews,” said Diane Self, administrative assistant for personnel. “Any certified teachers interested in working next year can come. We’re expecting some from as far away as New York. When people are planning a move, many try to make arrangements in advance.”

Smalley said his office sends invitations for the fair to regional colleges; other school systems; and www.TeachGeorgia.com, the official recruitment Web site for Georgia’s public schools. The system also places notices in local newspapers.

“Many times in the past when we would go to the University of Alabama, Lee University, or UGA to recruitment fairs, we found that most of those students wanted to stay to work where their college is, or they wanted to go back to their homes to teach,” Smalley said. “So about six or seven years ago we started our own job fair to find people with a specific interest in Whitfield County.”

With an increase of 250 students into the system, as Smalley said was the case last year, class sizes at several schools may be pushed over maximum limits set by the state. In those cases, the system has to hire new teachers or paraprofessionals.

Teachers are especially needed to teach math, science, English as a Second Language and special education. Due to a new guideline set by the No Child Left Behind law, teachers must be not only fully certified but also must show they are “highly qualified” in each subject they teach. But Smalley said experienced teachers are not always hired ahead of teachers right out of college.

“The experienced teacher may not have been an effective teacher; they may have moved from job to job and just skirted by,” Smalley said. “After looking at references and background checks, those may not be the people we want to bring in front of our kids.”

He said Georgia has programs to bring people with experience in the business world into the classroom. If individuals hold a bachelor’s degree or higher but did not complete teacher education requirements as part of their degree programs, they can enter the Georgia Teacher Alternative Preparation Program (TAPP) and eventually become teachers. That involves a screening, orientation, counseling and an internship/induction process.

“People who have been in chemistry hands-on in the business world and have that content knowledge are easier to place in a job because of the core academic studies behind them. We can track them through alternative certification routes,” Smalley said. “Other people can be highly qualified for their jobs, but if they have a degree in marketing, can they get a job in the school system? Some degrees don’t match content requirements, and we would better serve our kids by finding someone who went through a teacher preparation program.”