New York City Schools Welcome New Teachers

After a period of limited opportunities for new teachers, New York City starts a slow return to recruiting new blood.

For the first time since the city imposed a hiring freeze two years ago, the number of teachers entering the classroom from alternative certification programs has risen, writes Geoffrey Decker at gothamschools.org.

Having responded to shrinking budgets and rising costs, the Department of Education put in place what amounted to a systemwide teaching hire freeze. Individual schools were still able to use their budgets to add new teachers if they were able, but the DOE cut school budgets so far that many schools had to shed teachers. And any new hires to replace teachers who left had to come from teachers who were already in the system, severely restricting the amount of new blood entering the profession.

But now, two prominent organizations, Teach For America and New York City Teaching Fellows, are contributing hundreds of new teachers to the city’s teaching force. The organizations estimate that they will bring about 800 new teachers into classrooms this fall, which would amount to a 25 per cent increase on last year.

The policy of 2009 severely curtailed recruitment plans for TFA and NYC Teaching Fellows and in a matter of two years, both were producing just a few hundred teachers per year. Most of those teachers worked in shortage areas, such as science and special education.

Now, as the city has eased some longstanding hiring restrictions in new subjects, those numbers are inching back up in response to demand.

Teach For America admitted 335 members this year, a 50 percent increase from last year. For the second straight year, a majority of those teachers – about 180 – will work in charter schools.

Teach for America says:

“We seek leaders who can describe significant past achievements and who operate with an exceptional level of personal responsibility for outcomes. Because our corps members face such tremendous challenges, we seek applicants who have demonstrated determination and persistence when confronted with obstacles in the past. Lastly, we seek people with the specific skills – from critical thinking to organizational ability – that we have seen characterize our most successful teachers.”

As many as 145 new teachers could end up in district schools, said New York TFA executive director Jeff Li. A small group will also be placed in non-profit organizations that support early childhood education.

Li attributed the increase to demand from new and expanding charter schools and in high-need subject areas in district schools.

NYC Teaching Fellows, which doesn’t place teachers in charter schools, also increased its enrollment.

Despite the restrictions, the DOE still hired roughly 3000 new teachers last year, according to a spokeswoman. However, it also lost about 2,600 teachers through attrition and expects to lose 2,600 more this year.