St Mary's can't find teachers?

[foodcritic]

I'm glad that you are raising your children correctly and commend you for that.

But, I don't see how that relates to the teaching shortage whatsoever...

I was replying to another persons post about college professors not being american citizens.

Well this was fun but now I have to get back to life. Carry on.

 

[LateApex]

This isn't news to me. Many school districts have had to look abroad for qualified math and science teachers. There's a just a shortage of new teachers in that specific area is all. And I had supervisors who were Jamaican/other Carribian islanders and they are the most hard working, professional yet laid back folks you'd ever meet. A couple went from being dirt poor (as in lived in a dirt floor shack and walked to school barefoot)to well educated professionals. I am sure they could teach our overly entitled youth a thing or two about the value of education.

Yes.

In fact (I'm not certain) but I think I know the teacher that is in the article.

I used to coach their kids in soccer...

Nice people - and very passionate in their work.

Who wouldn't want people that are passionate about teaching, teaching their kids?

 

[foodcritic]

And this shows the problem we are having here in this discussion. According to the article they are admittedly looking for candidates of a diverse nature, AKA minorities, for the math and science jobs. They have enough diverse candidates in the elementary education group. They seek diverse candidates in the secondary education specialties of science and math and also in special education.

The article is clear it isn't about salary as you contend but about the characteristics of the candidates.

Thank you for bringing it back to what the article actually states. Its all about diversity. UGH!!!!!

 

[LateApex]

I was replying to another persons post about college professors not being american citizens.

Well this was fun but now I have to get back to life. Carry on.

 

[KayPee]

A single teacher in St. Mary's county will never be able to afford a house and will barely be able to afford rent. So they either come here for a couple of years and leave or they don't come here at all. Starting salary $35K, right.

 

[nachomama]

I coached at a few of the schools so I know some of the faculty...

Same here.

 

[Ken King]

A single teacher in St. Mary's county will never be able to afford a house and will barely be able to afford rent. So they either come here for a couple of years and leave or they don't come here at all. Starting salary $35K, right.

Looking at a current opening for a science teacher it requires the professional certificate for the position meaning that the starting salary will be $43,240 for the 2008-2009 school year. Not a bad starting salary.

 

[LateApex]

And this shows the problem we are having here in this discussion. According to the article they are admittedly looking for candidates of a diverse nature, AKA minorities, for the math and science jobs. They have enough diverse candidates in the elementary education group. They seek diverse candidates in the secondary education specialties of science and math and also in special education.

The article is clear it isn't about salary as you contend but about the characteristics of the candidates.

This much is clear:

In an effort to find teachers for hard-to-fill positions, St. Mary’s public school system is extending its search outside of the country’s borders.

It also offers a good opportunity to find teachers for areas like secondary math and science as well as special education, school human resource personnel said; vacancies in these areas are hardest to fill every year.

I see no-where in this sentence where it says anything about diversity:

Of particular interest were teachers qualified to teach secondary science or math as well as special education teachers. Dennie said they were not looking for elementary education teachers because that pool is large enough to choose from locally and regionally.

What I do see is that there is a large enough pool of QUALIFIED teachers to choose from...

Any teachers hired from the trip will likely fulfill both the need for more cultural diversity among school staff as well as helping to fill the critical need areas.

Hmm.. Critical to me seems like people around here aren't beating down the doors for these jobs...

The article is clear it isn't about salary as you contend but about the characteristics of the candidates.

I didn't say the article stated anything about salary. I was merely pointing out what I think is one of the reasons why people aren't flocking to St Mary's to teach...

I think any person looking at that article will agree that it's main focus is to find teachers to fill vacancies in areas of need.

NOT solely to improve diversity...

 

[Pete]

A single teacher in St. Mary's county will never be able to afford a house and will barely be able to afford rent. So they either come here for a couple of years and leave or they don't come here at all. Starting salary $35K, right.

Anyone right out of college in their early 20's begining a career would not be able to afford a house in SMC. :shrug:

 

[LateApex]

Don't know how I missed this:

The areas of most need can be hard to fill even during regional recruiting trips to Pennsylvania, the Carolinas and other nearby states.

This seems pretty clear to me that they have tried recruiting elsewhere and came up short of meeting the goals...

All arguments stating that they aren't looking in the surrounding areas were just made irrelevant...

 

[Ken King]

I think any person looking at that article will agree that it's main focus is to find teachers to fill vacancies in areas of need.

NOT solely to improve diversity...

Really, go back and take a look at the comments on here? Many posters seem to think that it is about diversity just like the article states in the headline and within the text.

 

[poster]

Anyone else see this ridiculous story!!! You mean to tell me we can'f find teachers in the US to fill the demanding "teacher" roles of St Mary's? The BOE is waisting tax payer money on this for sure. I am glad I homeschool....

St. Mary’s turns to Jamaica to help recruit new teachers
Qualified minority applicants for math, science sought
Friday, April 11, 2008
By JESSE YEATMAN
Staff writer


In an effort to find teachers for hard-to-fill positions, St. Mary’s public school system is extending its search outside of the country’s borders

St. Mary’s turns to Jamaica to help recruit new teachers

Nope - In an effort to find teachers to fill their "Qualified minority applicants" requirements.

 

[LateApex]

Really, go back and take a look at the comments on here? Many posters seem to think that it is about diversity just like the article states in the headline and within the text.

Ken.

Take out the fact that they went to Jamaica.

Take out everything that was mentioned about increasing diversity.

What do you have left?

hard to fill positions
critical areas of need

Do you agree they are looking to fill these positions because they are needed?

If so, who cares where they go.

As long as they're qualified why should it matter?

It matters to you Ken because your agenda is to show the white man is getting screwed again...

 

[LateApex]

Nope - In an effort to find teachers to fill their "Qualified minority applicants" requirements.

NO WHERE in the article does it state it's trying to fulfill it's minority requirements

NO WHERE.

It says it's trying to find QUALIFIED minority applicants to fill positions of need.

 

[Ken King]

Ken.

Take out the fact that they went to Jamaica.

Take out everything that was mentioned about increasing diversity.

What do you have left?

hard to fill positions
critical areas of need

Do you agree they are looking to fill these positions because they are needed?

If so, who cares where they go.

As long as they're qualified why should it matter?

It matters to you Ken because your agenda is to show the white man is getting screwed again...

How the hell do you come up with that? I haven't said a damn thing other than what was found in the article. You on the other hand brought salary in to the discussion which wasn't mentioned in the article. Trust me, I have no dog in this hunt and no agenda. I read what is there and am commenting solely on that material, material I remind you that you want to disregard.

 

[LateApex]

How the hell do you come up with that? I haven't said a damn thing other than what was found in the article. You on the other hand brought salary in to the discussion which wasn't mentioned in the article. Trust me, I have no dog in this hunt and no agenda. I read what is there and am commenting solely on that material, material I remind you that you want to disregard.

Because why else would the positions be hard to fill Ken?

Don't we all work to get paid?

I brought salary into the discussion because almost every single person that has an issue with being a teacher in St Mary's is because they are underpaid and over stressed.

How can salary NOT be brought into the discussion...

They surely don't come here because of the welcoming community...

You think they only come here for the 10 oz. buds and blue crabs?

Come on man...

 

[LateApex]

Better yet, Ken.

You give me a reason why there are a shortage of teachers in the area.

 

[Ken King]

Because why else would the positions be hard to fill Ken?

Don't we all work to get paid?

I brought salary into the discussion because almost every single person that has an issue with being a teacher in St Mary's is because they are underpaid and over stressed.

How can salary NOT be brought into the discussion...

They surely don't come here because of the welcoming community...

You think they only come here for the 10 oz. buds and blue crabs?

Come on man...

Many teach here because they grew up here or want to live here and many for other reasons that one can only imagine. The salary range isn't that bad to start out. A quick look shows that St. Mary's starting salary is above the national median salary for teachers nationwide. Teacher Salary - Average Teacher Salaries - PayScale

 

[Ken King]

Better yet, Ken.

You give me a reason why there are a shortage of teachers in the area.

Maybe it's because there aren't many that want to teach at all. Is St. Mary's the only location suffering from a shortage of teachers? I don't think so.

 

[nachomama]

Because why else would the positions be hard to fill Ken?

Don't we all work to get paid?

I brought salary into the discussion because almost every single person that has an issue with being a teacher in St Mary's is because they are underpaid and over stressed.

How can salary NOT be brought into the discussion...

They surely don't come here because of the welcoming community...

You think they only come here for the 10 oz. buds and blue crabs?

Come on man...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but most people who go into the field of teaching start out with a "generic" degree, meaning they go into elementary education or history or science or math. Many of these entry level teachers do not have the necessary certificates to go into specialized studies, such as biology, chemistry, physics, algebra, calculus or even engineering because they haven't gotten that far into their studies. They got the necessary degree to get out in the field and teach, and many continue their studies while teaching to go further into the field.

Many realize that it's too much work to further their education; some have families and it takes longer than they wanted to be able to teach in specialized fields. But in any case, a first year teacher cannot go into the classroom teaching engineering, or advanced placement classes. The exception to this rule would be someone who had the degree in engineering, math, science, etc. first and then went on and got their teaching certifications.