Alachua County Public Schools is still hiring teachers for fall
Press release from Alachua County Public Schools
ALACHUA COUNTY, Fla. – Alachua County Public Schools is still short on teachers, particularly elementary school teachers and middle and high school language arts teachers, with about a month to go before school starts on August 10.
Currently, the district has 105 classroom teacher vacancies, and about 70 of those are in kindergarten through 5th grade. About 15 are for secondary school language arts teachers.
Like districts throughout Florida and the nation, the district is finding that fewer people are working toward education degrees in college, which means fewer new teachers in the pipeline. Also complicating matters for Alachua County is that July is typically the time when existing teachers announce that they’re leaving the area or the state, often to follow a spouse or partner who has graduated from the University of Florida.
The district’s average teacher salary recently ranked 24th among Florida’s 67 school districts. The district also offers free health insurance for individual employees, a strong retirement plan, and other benefits. New teachers receive extensive support from veteran teachers at their schools and have many professional development opportunities. The district also provides teachers with assistance with student loan forgiveness and other support.
Anyone interested in teaching in the district is encouraged to apply for a position, including those who may have previously worked for Alachua County Public Schools. There are also options in Florida for professionals and/or veterans who did not earn a degree in education and do not have a standard teaching certificate to teach while earning alternative certification.
Potential candidates are encouraged to call the district’s Human Resources Department at (352) 955-7727, Mondays through Thursdays from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. They will then be scheduled for an interview at the district office, and contracts may even be offered on the spot. Anyone looking for additional information can also call that number.
Who wants to work for a District whose School Board tries to disguise continuous discussions about overall student grades, and the ever rising discipline problems, as “taking action?”
Even tenured teachers are fleeing to Charter, or Private, schools as quickly as they can!
Minimum three out of the five board members should resign immediately (two are “I wrote a paper Doctors”, and the other one is nothing but a political activist!