Last year I described myself as being in interview hell because I was constantly having to suppress my desire to jump over the table and slap some sense into some of the applicants over their poor grammar, dress and answers. This year we are having the exact problem. We have interviewed 5 people so far for 4 positions. Two of them have absolutely blown us away and the other 3 were also very good. We have 2 others coming in who are also supposed to be experienced, outstanding teachers. The problem for us is the 2 outstanding ones, and the two to come, all want the only 4th grade position available. One has even stated she wasn't interested in anything else but the 4th grade job. Usually people will only take a 4th grade job to get their foot in the door, now we make have to ask people to take something else so that they can eventually get a 4th grade job.
The 70 edition of the Carnival of Education is up and running over at the EdWonks. It seems this week I've been busier than ever and haven't had a chance to blog or read the carnival but it's on my to do list.
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9 comments:
Much better to have too many than too few qualified applicants. Would that it were the case here in Fun City.
I can't believe we're having this problem either NYC Educator. In the past its been the complete opposite.
You see? It pays to destroy unionism, ship out jobs, pay poor wages, oppose minimum wage, prevent universal healthcare, outsource tech jobs, allow outrageous abuse of workers, and all but destroy the middle class, while working hard to finish the job.
By electing folks like GW Bush, you're increasing the pool of prospective teachers.
Doubtless that was the plan all along.
I'm not surprised those teachers want fourth grade. It is a very rewarding grade right in the middle of things.
Elementary history teacher,
In Texas there is an extra state tests to prepare the kids for. We typically average losing about 30 to 40 percent of our 4th grade teachers. We found out yesterday another one wants to leave 4th grade to take over the counseling job, so this year we are losing 2 of the 9. In the 11 years I've been with this district we have only had one year where every 4th grade teacher came back, and the year after that 5 of the 8 left.
We used to have the same problem with fourth grad teachers, since that grade entailed high-stakes testing. Now that we have high-stakes testing in every grade, it's no worse than any other grade.
Unfortunately for my fourth-grader, it's no better either.
So why do people want the 4th grade position only? What are you all doing that's so right?
Ms. Cornelius,
I'm totatlly stumped. In the past people only take 4th grade jobs to get their foot in the door, then get into another grade level, or school, as quickly as possible. The year before this past school year we had 3 teachers leave 4th grade to take jobs in 5th.
4th grade has been a revolving door in my school, too. The team hasn't remained completely unchanged in nearly a decade.
4th also has been the big testing year, but much like NYC educator said we test in every grade now, so the pain is equal.
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