Delaware launches statewide teacher recruitment effort

Education has always been a top priority in Delaware and the state continues to show its commitment to students as it works to recruit the best teachers for Delaware schools.

A new campaign, “Join Delaware Schools,” is designed to attract those high quality educators through a website for teacher recruitment. That’s where one common application can be found for every school district in all three counties, making it easier for schools to recruit and retain educators. As a result, applicants will not have to seek employment by visiting every district or charter school’s individual website.

So far Colonial School District along with a dozen other districts and charter schools have utilized the online portal.

“Although our district has recently joined the portal, I am already seeing an increase in applications which will ultimately lead to new hires,” said Eugene Mayo, director of human resources for Colonial School District.

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The website which is funded by part of the state’s federal Race to the Top grant also helped Seaford School District make its 57th hire.

“Our district has seen an increase in applications and interest in the positions we have had available,” said Stephanie Smith, director of human resource development and public information. “For smaller districts such as Seaford with more limited local resources, efforts such as this partnership are crucial to ensuring that we are able to get the best and the brightest staff into our classrooms during our hiring season.”

Earlier this week, Gov. Jack Markell, D-Del., met with a group of education students at the University of Delaware to talk about the importance of retaining top teachers in Delaware schools as well as encourage them to do well in their studies.

“The research could not be clearer: Teacher quality is the most important school-related factor in a student’s academic success,” said Gov. Markell. “This site’s resources are an important tool to highlight the benefits of teaching in Delaware, to help us attract and retain the best teachers, and to make it easier for high-quality applicants to apply for teaching jobs in our state.”

Although the new campaign and website brings attention to hiring top quality educators, the hiring process will still be left up to local districts and charter schools.

“We know great teaching leads to great learning. We want to attract those educators who share our commitment to ensuring every student graduates from our schools with the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in college and career,” Secretary of Education Mark Murphy said.

In coming months, the state will host a number of recruitment and promotional events. The Join Delaware Schools campaign is the first statewide teacher recruitment effort of its kind and by 2016, all districts and charters are expected to use the site so that all education vacancies in the state can be found in one place.

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