With the school year right around the corner, schools everywhere are scrambling to make sure every classroom has a qualified teacher.
“We’re still trying to hire teachers, classroom teachers,” said Juan Cruz, superintendent for the Franklin McKinley School District in San Jose.
As he’s done before, Cruz might have to occasionally fill in for a classroom that needs the staffing help.
“There’s just not enough candidates out there so we’ve had to close some classes, combine some classes to fill some of the vacancies that we currently have,” he said.
The California Commision on Teacher Credentialing reports there were more than 10,000 teacher vacancies across the state at the end of the 2022 school year.
The agency is still doing the math for this year.
San Jose school districts said the situation isn’t as dire as years past. But it’s still a big concern.
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Alum Rock, for example, is desperately looking for early education teachers.
Franklin McKinley says it can only offer first-year, fully credentialed teachers $76,000 per year.
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So the district is still four general ed teachers short, and is looking for 10 special ed teachers and staff.
“Families will come with their children to our schools, and they're going to walk through those gates, and we're going to be ready, one way or another,” said Cruz.
Cruz will spend the next two weeks working the phones and the websites, offering signing bonuses in some cases, so all his students can have a teacher in front of the classroom on day one.
