“Staffing Our Schools” (S.O.S.) – UPDATE

Posted on August 19, 2012 by Little Red Hen - 9 Comments ↓

A recent posting detailed the staffing shortages at Dallas ISD campuses with two weeks to opening bell. With just a few days before it leaves the starting gate, how much progress has the district made in filling those vacancies? Let’s see! As of August 3, there were 335 teacher postings. That’s ~~down to 334 as of August 17~~ UP to 341 as of August 22! Teacher assistants stood at 116, now ~~down to 110~~ UP TO 121!. Given Dallas ISD’s perennial difficulties with counting anything from money to portables to square footage, we don’t really know if they have actually filled 7 positions or they just miscounted originally, but we will give them the benefit of the doubt and say progress has been made. Not much progress, but at least we’re moving in the right direction.

Thirteen Campus Leadership openings have been reduced to only 7, definitely progress. Many of you parents and staff will be, no doubt, chagrined to find your favorite Assistant/Associate Principal has been tapped to fill a Principal vacancy, but as Saraswati noted in the Diminishing Returns post, upward mobility is the goal here. Congratulations to those new principals, but please stay around for the late show! Of course churn and shuffling leaves new AP positions open, 5 of them now, rather than the 4 listed previously.

The district career website now lists only three Principal vacancies, while two weeks ago there were nine! So, definite progress! What, you want to know if your school is one of the three missing a principal? Surprise, the district no longer identifies the campuses recruiting principals, as it did before. Now why would that be? Is too much information a bad thing? Are parents asking too many questions? Or maybe the new principals haven’t actually been assigned to buildings yet and the district is still sorting them out. Gosh, there were nine empty chairs, let’s make sure we have the right person in each one! Let us know in a comment here, does your campus have its leadership in place? After school starts please come back and tell us how many substitutes are in place, or if your campus is missing both permanent staff AND subs!

Tagged with: HR, Teacher Shortage, Teacher vacancies
Posted in Teachers Rule

9 comments

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Sandra Garcia

I would like to know under " Open Records -Public Request" How many teachers from Spain,Central America and other Latin countries did Dallas isd. hire this year? Why because Dallas pays these teacher less compared to a teacher that is certified by the state of Texas.

Uncle Cracker Jack

I hear HR folks jumping ship all over the place the saddest part I hear is that the good people have either left or looking to leave because they have had enough of Glover and his TFA lackeys from Houston breaking policy and measuring their offices while they are in there. I keep hearing the only thing that will be left will be the dead wieght and no matter how many TFA Glover brings in much like they did in Houston ISD it will not matter because eventually you see their TFA ways arent successful. They are getting fat of the public education cow which I cant blame them, but really if you cant make it in corporate america why come and beat up public education? Come on choose another profession like drug dealers! TFA made HISD a bigger joke of a district and DISD is prime to be next. Poor DISD what in the world did you get now?

Certified Teacher

Of course they all fail in the public schools and return to their TFA cocoon where they can spout theory without any hard, cold facts getting in the way. There is 1 solution for public schools and anything else will fail. TFA, charters, overpaid superintendents--none of it works. If I have strep throat, there is 1 solution: antibiotics. I can drink juices, get massages, have acupuncture, double up on vegetables, etc, but none of it will work. Glover will fail because he cannot succeed, regardless of his smarts or work ethic. And then who will want him? Only TFA.

Promise her anything

@bonuses: I don't think your last sentence was meant this way, but your statement that "Glover will need TFA long term, so that is where his allegiance lies," makes me think of an earlier post on this site(http://www.disdblog.com/2012/08/03/ready-or-not-mr-miles-here-they-come/#comments). Ann Best, who was hired out of TFA to head up the HR dept. in Houston ISD, lasted 3 years and now has returned to work for TFA. I certainly hope this is not Glover's long term plan. We need people who are committed to DISD for the long haul, and will do the work needed to improve the district, not just use DISD to build their resume or to give them some kind of credibility.

Certified Teacher

Some schools have new principals AND new APs. Disastrous. The positions might as well be vacant because the new hires generally need an entire school to figure out their new jobs. They are dependent on the veteran teachers to make it through the year. Mike Miles will get to see firsthand how a constantly changing cast of characters drives the middle class out of DISD when his son arrives at Marsh Middle School. Regardless of how good teachers might be, Miles' son will be at a school where the overwhelming majority of kids are low-income, below-level (especially compared to private school kids), and not college bound. Miles could fill the school--any school--with his hand-picked minions, but he cannot change the demographics, performance, behavior, or attitudes of the student body. If he doubts me, Miles should go sit in on classes at Jesuit or St. Mark's and see what boys from the middle class are learning and doing--boys whose parents' disgust with DISD administration/policies compelled them to go private. The contrast is sickening. But keep up the great work, Miles and Company!

Bonuses Not the Answer

Glover is probably cranking back on hiring teachers in order to persuade the board that hundreds more in TFA hiring must take place. With the expense of their training and mentoring, these noncertified college grads with no experience actually cost around $60,000 each and they stick around maybe 2 years eating up veteran teachers' time mentoring them. Glover will need TFA long term, so that is where his allegiance lies.

Beer in Hand

Go ahead, let him hire 300 TFA's. In fact, hire 400. Let it make the news, as to why one district in North Texas seems to have a problem nobody else has: retention of good quality teachers. They can't all have the best kids cherry-picked. Some will fall flat, in fact, most will just be average. Go ahead. When veteran teachers quit helping them along, because of their sad eyes, and they actually teach the hard cases, the curtain on all this will be pulled back, and it won't be pretty.

SlamminSammySnead

Beer... Even better, give TFA complete control of the five worst schools in DISD for two years and then let's look at those magical test results and graduation rates! My bet is that 90% of those TFA'ers wouldn't make it six weeks into the school year before jumping ship and moving back in with mommy and daddy.

Contracts R US

Maybe Glover needs to stop spending so much time recruiting for Miles' principal's academy and attend to placing teachers in classrooms. It seems the candidates for the principal's training cohort are being required to sign 3 year contracts. Didn't know the district allowed 3 year contracts for anyone. Was the board briefed? While Miles wants these principals in waiting as leverage for threatening the jobs of the current principals, the basic job of Glover is to find qualified teachers for the first day of school. We would also like Miles to brief the board on how SMU wound up in the middle of recruiting and training Dallas principals.