First year teachers.
Classes begin a week from today.
Yesterday and today are new teacher orientation days. I was able to meet with the new certified teaching staff yesterday. I talked about the role of the union and signed them up as members.
When I got home, I noted on Facebook that almost all the teachers being hired in our district have taught before. Some have taught for a couple of years in the CPS. Others had taken off some time to have kids. Although we had very few retirees last year, our enrollment and some leaves of absence require the district to do some hiring.
One colleague reported that not all the new teachers have taught before. His fifth grade has a brand new teacher. But overall, it’s a tough year for a new teacher entering the profession.
I’m glad to have these experienced teachers as colleagues. I feel for the rookies who are struggling to find an opening.
The tight job market is clearly a cost saving to our district even though we are looking to hire rather than laying off. Even though they’re paying more for an experienced teacher rather than hiring someone right out of a teacher preparation program, they’re getting a great deal.
How’s that?
In Illinois, tenure isn’t transferable. No matter how long a teacher has taught in the public schools, if they change districts, the tenure clock starts at zero.
In our district, the most teaching credit you can receive is six years. It’s not a law. It’s just their policy. That means that a teacher who taught ten years and took off time for their family and then returns to teaching gets placed no higher than step six on the salary schedule. If a teacher were to move from downstate where the average teaching salary is far lower than in north suburban Cook County, but has 15 years experience, our district will give them no more than six years of credit.
The budget crisis facing states and school districts all across the country makes for a tight job market for teachers. Whether they are just out of college looking for their first teaching assignment, a veteran teacher looking for a position in a better paying district, or a teacher coming back from time to be with their family, it’s tough out there.
