“I feel like there is a particular need for positions (in math, science, and bilingual education) around the state,” said Lydia Gaines, Temple school district director of recruiting. “The district does not seem to have any problems finding teachers for those positions, but we recruit from a smaller amount of applicants.”
Ms. Gaines said the majority of applications TISD receives for teaching positions come from people who hold an EC-4 certificate, which certifies them with the ability to teach kindergarten through fourth grade. The district also receives large amounts of applications from teachers with fourth through eight grade certifications.
“We have no problems finding teachers who’re EC-4 certified,” Ms. Gaines said. “I think that it’s good for the district though because it allows us to have a greater choice among applicants.”
Ms. Gaines said most of the district’s applications for secondary education (high school) positions come in the form of education majors with English and history concentrations, leaving the district with a smaller number of potential math and science majors to choose from.
Ms. Gaines estimated the TISD Web site receives about 1,000 applications per year, and between “65 to 70 percent” are from EC-4 applicants.
One of the reasons the number of EC-4 applicants has increased across the state is the fact that more colleges are graduating students with EC-4 concentrations.
“We consistently graduate more students in our EC-4 degree plan than we do compared to our other education degree plans,” said Carolyn Owens, an associate professor of education at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.
“I think it’s because when you become EC-4 certified you don’t have to concentrate on a subject of study, as opposed to going into secondary education where you have to decide your discipline,” Ms. Owens said.
Ms. Owens disagreed with the notion that the job market may be tougher for those graduates with EC-4 certifications.
“Most of our EC-4 students don’t have problems finding jobs if they really look,” said Ms. Owens, who didn’t have job placement rates after graduation. “Within a semester after graduation, most of our students have gained employment.
“We don’t make recommendations to our students as to concentrations,” she said. “We let them know what the trends are and talk to them about job openings - but the decision is up to them.”
Ms. Owens said the college tries to inform secondary education students concentrating in history that the job market is tougher because the number of positions available don’t match the number of qualified candidates.
As of Monday, TISD had 11 teachers who had announced that they were going to retire, with at least one teacher from every school campus, leaving vacancies at various grade levels and subjects of study.
“As of now, things look pretty normal for us, for this time of year,” said Ms. Gaines, comparing the number of retirees to previous years.
“I think that right now one of the big areas of concern will be finding teachers with bilingual certification,” Ms. Gaines said.
TISD offers bilingual education classes for students in kindergarten through fourth grade at Cater and Garcia elementaries who cannot speak fluent English, and Ms. Gaines said the school district could add classes to a third campus by next year if enrollment increases.
Ms. Gaines said the district is trying to hire teachers to fill open positions within the bilingual program.
“We are experiencing increases in the number of Spanish-speaking students we have,” Ms. Gaines said. “I expect that trend to continue, and I expect it to continue across the state.”
Ms. Owens agreed with Ms. Gaines.
“We have been letting our students know that there are jobs in bilingual education that are openly available and need to be filled,” Ms. Owens said. “Across the state there seems to be a tremendous need for those jobs.”
