18 Jul 2000
As of Friday, July 14, the Dallas Independent School District has hired 731 new teachers to become a part of its faculty family. Most of these new hires were found at the first four job fairs hosted by the district.
The previous job fairs have been successful forDISD in its quest to have all teaching positions filled by the start of school said Diane Miles, DISD executive director–Human Resources Professional and Support Staffing.
"Job fair attendance has been up and growing over the past few years," she said. "In fact, out of 566 potential teachers attending the May job fair, the district hired 224."
With 331 teacher vacancies still open, the DISD invites educators to attend its fifth teacher recruitment job fair from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, July 22, at A. Maceo Smith High School, 3030 Stag Road.
There will be a special emphasis on recruiting mathematicians at this job fair. DISD needs to hire 44 math professionals to be trained in August to become math teachers in grades 7-12. Among the hiring incentives to recruit mathematicians to the teaching profession include a $2,000 signing bonus and $1,000 annual stipend. Applicants without a teacher's certificate need at least a bachelor's degree with a minimum of 18 semester hours in math and a grade point average of 2.5. Successful candidates will be trained through the district's alternative certification program during the school year while teaching.
Recruiting professionals with degrees in math will help the district eliminate a shortage of teachers in this area, Miles said.
"We feel that by introducing them to ways to become a teacher, we can pull on their strengths in math and acquire teachers for our students. We are encouraged by the calls we have received to inquire about how to become a teacher from professionals who fit this profile."
The district continues to offer special incentives to teachers who hold certificates in early childhood (PK-K), bilingual education, science and special education. The incentives include a $1,500 signing bonus to the first 1,000 teachers and a stipend ranging from $500 to $3,000 depending on the teaching area.
Miles believes this fifth job fair will help the district meet its goal of having a complete teaching staff by the start of school.
"I am encouraged that we will fill our vacancies," she said. "The energy in our department centered around this goal is very high. We feel an obligation to our students to ensure that they have quality teachers in place when they arrive at school on Aug. 14."
DISD offers teachers competitive salary packages. The average base teacher salary for the upcoming school year is at least $41,500. Beginning teachers salary starts at $33,000.
Job fair participants should bring references, transcripts, teaching certificate or college letter of recommendation for certification.
For more information, call 1-800-443-6181 or (972) 925-4251. Also, applicants may visit the web site at www.dallasisd.org.