AFT Calls for States, School Districts to 'Meet The Challenge' of
Hard-To-Staff Schools
A new report offers insights and solutions for recruiting and retaining teachers in
 high-poverty schools

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The challenge of attracting and keeping qualified teachers in high-poverty schools can be met through collaboration between teacher unions and school districts. Together, they can address the problem by agreeing on financial incentive packages and programs designed to improve teaching and learning conditions that promote teacher success, according to the American Federation of Teachers’ (AFT) latest report, “Meeting the Challenge: Recruiting and Retaining Teachers in Hard-to-Staff Schools,” released today.

 “We don’t have to reinvent the wheel to figure out how to recruit and retain teachers in challenging areas. We can learn from districts that have had success,” said AFT President Edward J. McElroy. “It takes adequate funding and strong teacher-district partnerships to negotiate effective remedies, and political will to fix the problem.”

The cost of teacher turnover is especially high for hard-to-staff schools.  To fill vacancies, school districts spend billions of dollars annually to recruit and train new teachers.  Worse, because of the dearth of experienced teachers, students in high-poverty districts are often denied the best education possible, putting them at a disadvantage when entering the workforce. The problem demands strategies that work, the report says. “Meeting the Challenge” identifies examples and makes recommendations for policies and programs that have been proven effective:

1. Establishing and maintaining safe and orderly schools, including developing school safety plans and enforcing statewide discipline codes.  Toledo, Ohio’s Behavior Specialist Program—where teachers who specialize in behavior management respond to student referrals from other teachers—is just one instance of union-district cooperation in response to school safety issues. 

2. Targeting professional development to best address the needs of teachers and staff in challenging environments, like strong induction programs, teacher collaboration and effective learning opportunities. The report points to successful induction programs conducted by the United Federation of Teachers (New York City), ABC Federation of Teachers (Southern California) and the Illinois Federation of Teachers. 

3. Examining recruitment and hiring practices.  In addition to reviewing and, if necessary, revising selection procedures, including notifications policies and candidate screening, the report recommends improving recruitment through better marketing of the benefits of  teaching in hard-to-staff schools. For example, the Philadelphia Teacher Ambassador Program uses current teachers to recruit new teachers. School districts also are encouraged to develop smooth transfer policies that allow existing teachers to transfer to low-performing schools without penalty.

4. Identifying and carrying out school district and state responsibilities, particularly in terms of funding for salaries, incentives and other school improvements.  For example, to help the city of Baltimore compete with wealthier surrounding counties, the union and the district negotiated a contract stipulating that certified teachers would be hired at the fourth step of the salary schedule—the equivalent of a $4,700 raise. 

 “Meeting the Challenge” asserts that teaching and learning will only thrive in schools where basic needs are met. Teachers and students need to teach and learn in schools that have strong administrative support; faculty input; safe and orderly working conditions; and adequate time for training, planning and instruction. When the proper programs and resources are implemented at hard-to-staff schools, student achievement will improve, and recruiting and retaining teachers will be much less difficult.

 The report and its recommendations fit in with the teaching quality component of “Charting the Course,” the AFT’s comprehensive agenda for improving public education for all children.  Through Charting the Course, the AFT will explore and provide recommendations for other issues affecting the nation’s public schools, including safe and orderly schools; early reading instruction and intervention; common, knowledge-rich curriculum; and intensive assistance to high-poverty schools.

“Meeting the Challenge: Recruiting and Retaining Teachers in Hard-to-Staff Schools” can be downloaded at http://www.aft.org/pubs-reports/downloads/teachers/h2s.pdf.

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