WHAT ARE SCHOOL DISTRICTS DOING TO FILL THEIR CLASSROOMS?
School districts from coast to coast are launching ambitious initiatives to attract and retain teachers, especially teachers who belong to minority groups and teachers certified in critical-need areas or those willing to teach in urban or rural schools. Today, Education World explores some of those initiatives. • Filling critical-need areas. After SAT scores for Georgia students plunged to 50th in the nation and almost half of Georgia eighth graders failed the state’s math test, the state — like several others — raised salaries for math teachers as well as hard-to-find science and special education teachers. In California’s Silicon Valley, teachers willing to retrain in needed fields may receive grants, and in Wichita, Kansas, minority candidates and paraprofessionals interested in special education receive financial support. • Paying health insurance, retirement contributions, relocation expenses, or interviewing costs. The Hartford, Connecticut, system pays teachers’ health insuran
