Fight or Fix? The Competition for Teachers.

School districts try partnerships as a preferred approach to address their recruitment challenges

At a recent meeting of school personnel administrators, some of the more lively discussions focused on state regulations for the release of individual teachers from their employment contracts and a release agreement proposed by the state's district superintendents.

Prior to the latest crisis in teacher supply and demand, the school districts in this state had cooperated under a courtesy agreement that no school district would hire a teacher from another district without a letter of release by a given mid-summer deadline.

Well, so much for kindly relations in today's supercharged environment for new teaching talent in our classrooms. For the first time in my long affiliation with these personnel leaders, a testy dispute erupted over whether they should endorse the superintendent's proposal. The personnel folks believed they would be handcuffed in filling critical staffing needs in their schools if held to this standard.

The disagreement centered around the so-called "stealing of teachers" among these school districts. In effect, the heightened competition to recruit quality teachers from a shrinking candidate pool had led to a stalemate over the proposed hiring reform. Watching the startling developments, I was reminded how competition stifles progress and how cooperation usually yields better results.

Recruiting partnerships are the antithesis to competition. To ascertain the state of partnerships among school districts nationally, I surveyed the membership of the American Association of School Personnel Directors. The findings were published in an AASPA research brief, "Building Recruiting Partnerships."

Defining Collaboration

An effective recruiting partnership represents a relationship between school personnel departments and other agencies characterized by mutual cooperation and responsibility. Each partner provides capital, expertise and labor for finding the best teachers.

The primary goal of these partnerships is to renew and restore the vitality of the teaching candidate pool. Teacher shortages impede the ability of school districts to ensure that quality teachers are placed in every grade level and subject area.

Winston Odom, former executive director of personnel with the Hampton City, Va., Schools, offered a view echoed by others at the meeting. He said he considered a recruiting partnership "a collective community effort. It is a venture where colleges, businesses, churches, government and other vested publics decide that, in the best interest of the children, working together to attract quality employees enhances the educational system."

The survey respondents described their struggles to find qualified teachers. Patricia Valentine, personnel director with Bucks County Intermediate Unit 22 in Doylestown, Pa., outlined three challenges: "First, there is a higher turnover of younger candidates who may not stay for long periods of time in one district. Second, universities are failing to prepare adequate numbers of candidates in certain subject areas, creating an artificial shortage and interfering with the market value of positions. And third, there is difficulty in recruiting and retaining teachers of color in substantially white demographic areas."

In addition to identifying minority candidates and staff in fields such as special education, counseling, library/media and administration, many commented on the competition their smaller districts were facing from neighboring metropolitan school districts.

Valentine believes recruiting consortia offer advantages to smaller, less-affluent school systems. She lists these benefits as "wider name recognition, greater lobbying power with colleges and universities and more opportunities for teachers of color."

Partnerships between a school district and a local university that runs teacher training programs have another advantage, says Mike Sutherland, recruitment specialist for the Fairfax County, Va., schools. "Recruiting partnerships give [us] an opportunity to help shape university programs. For example, we provide funding for university programs that produce special education candidates."

Model Partnerships

We have identified several model recruiting partnerships through our work. These models are unique approaches that have yielded increased numbers of teaching candidates for the school districts. In addition, several models feature training components aimed at improving teacher quality and retention.

The Fairfax County, Va., Public Schools have developed Professional Development School agreements with George Mason University, Marymount University, Virginia Polytechnic University and George Washington University. Several of these agreements focus on special education interns. Another deals exclusively with mathematics and science interns.

Kings Park Elementary School serves as one of the Fairfax/GMU partnership schools. The school's principal, Mary Agnes Garman, has hired five interns from their PDS program as full-time teachers. "It is amazing to interview the wonderful, bright candidates who complete their internships here. It is clear that they think reading instruction," Garman says.

Additionally, Kings Park faculty teach classes and serve on George Mason's clinical faculty for teachers from across the district, GMU faculty believe they are training teacher-scholars who conduct action research in their classrooms and who go on to earn a master's degree.

Fairfax County also partners with two bordering school districts in northern Virginia, Prince William County and Arlington, as well as the National Education Association, to encourage high school students, especially minorities, to enter the teaching profession. Members of the partnership sponsor a joint conference each spring, titled "The Celebration of Teaching," and they have formed Future Educators of America chapters in their high schools.

The Greater Cleveland Teacher Recruitment Consortium, which is composed of 19 school districts dedicated to attracting more minority teachers to area schools, uses a universal application and recruits collaboratively.

The size of the group allows the districts to garner support from Cleveland businesses for developing recruiting incentive packages. It also gives candidates access to a wide range of districts.

Bucks County, Pa., Intermediate Unit 22 participates in a consortium of 13 districts and three vocational/technical schools. Valentine, the agency's director of personnel, says the consortium's budget supports the school teams' participation in job fairs and sponsors invitational recruitment events specifically targeting teachers of color.

Consortium members developed a mini-interview questionnaire, rating sheets and brochures. They also enter candidate information into a database sorted by certification area. After analyzing the data, they provide an annual report for their respective boards and superintendents.

Valentine believes these strategies are cost-effective ways to maximize their knowledge of top candidates.

The 21,000-student Olathe, Kan., school district works with Emporia State Regional University to host graduate students who are part of a Professional Development School. They spend the entire year in a practical school-site experience before teaching full time.

Lowell Ghosey, personnel director in Olathe, says this partnership has been a tremendous resource to his district when filling their elementary school positions.

In Michigan, the Oakland Human Resources Consortium, in which 16 school districts participate, has consolidated the marketing, recruitment and selection processes. Using advanced software, structured interviews and multistep sorting procedures, members identify the best talent from thousands of applicants.

Through the consortium's Web site, candidates can apply simultaneously to all 16 districts. The consortium is based in Birmingham, Mich.

The Tolleson, Ariz., Union High School District has forged a partnership with Estrella Mountain Community College and Arizona State University called inspire.teach. David Spellman, director of personnel in Tolleson, says the collaboration increases the number of diverse professionals within the teaching force. It reflects a commitment among secondary, community college and university partners to inspire students from underrepresented groups to pursue teaching careers.

Through field trips, workshops, counseling sessions and internships, potential teachers explore the benefits and challenges of a teaching career, identify financial resources and receive professional support.

The Hampton City Schools is collaborating with the Norfolk, Isle of Wight, and Suffolk school districts and Hampton University on Project EXCEL, which selects and supports current school district employees to participate in a master of arts program leading to teaching certification in emotional disturbance, an area of pressing need. The university provides tuition and a stipend through a U.S. Department of Education grant. The schools provide full-time teaching positions.

Those who complete the program also become eligible for a Ph.D. program at the College of William and Mary.

Fixing It Together

Some school personnel directors offer glowing testimony to the value of partnerships, as opposed to competition, from their actions.

Bill Trost, personnel administrator in the 5,700-student Shaker Heights, Ohio, City School District, has found great value to being involved in a local consortium involving 19 Cleveland-area school districts. The consortium started five years ago and now includes a diverse array of school systems. Trost often shares the names of candidates with other human resource directors.

"Once I interviewed a prospective teacher who told me that her heart was with a larger district serving mostly African-American students, Our district is about 52 percent minority. I immediately called colleagues in partnering districts with those demographics," Trost says. "She is happily working for one of them now. In turn, I have had teachers referred to our district by our partners."

When the challenges to find enough quality teachers for our nation's classrooms seem daunting to educational leaders, meaningful collaboration can help. Undoubtedly, we all have the same focus: improving student achievement with the highest-caliber teachers. This laudable goal demands that we cease competing and work together in partnership to recruit a quality teacher for every classroom.

Esther Coleman is executive director of the American Association of School Personnel Administrators, 3080 Brickhouse Court, Virginia Beach, Va. 23452.

Competition vs. Collaboration: Two Supes' Views

Esther Coleman, executive director of the American Association of School Personnel Administrators, asked several school district administrators about their views on the competition today among school districts for qualified teaching candidates.

* Why is heavy-handed competition between school district recruiters not in the best interests of public schools?

Mark Edwards, superintendent in Henrico County, Va.: "When public school districts engage in heavy-handed competition, prospective teachers are bombarded with information. They are often pushed to make 'on-the-spot' decisions as opposed to analyzing carefully what may be the best fit for them. Additionally, candidates are wooed by businesses. School districts will never have the resources to compete, so it is ill advised to engage in inter-district battles. Moreover, districts may become very negative about each other."

William Myers, assistant superintendent for personnel in Chesapeake, Va.: "Heavy-handed competition can lead to poor working relationships. Chaos can occur. Instead, districts may refer applicants in easier-to-fill positions to their personnel counterparts. Otherwise, capable applicants may ultimately be unemployed, while school districts have vacancies."

* Why do partnerships for personnel recruitment make better sense?

Edwards: "Candidates would not need to duplicate efforts by completing multiple applications. A group effort presents the positive aspects of a whole community. Specifically, partnerships with universities connect the theoretical knowledge base with the practical, reality-based operations of the schools. University partnerships allow school districts and universities to develop licensure programs jointly and enable them to identify the highest quality candidates."

Myers: "Anytime you can pool resources and services, the economic benefits are obvious. Also, applicants want to work in school districts where there is a positive sense of cooperation. We signed a joint invitation with the Chesapeake Education Association encouraging student members of the Virginia Education Association to apply with us."