Delaware News

Early Teacher Hiring Improves In Delaware For 2nd Straight Year

Former Lt. Governor Matt Denn (2009-2014) | Office of the Lieutenant Governor | Date Posted: Thursday, October 3, 2013



Independent Study Attributes Improvement to 2011 Legislation

Wilmington, DE (Thursday, October 3, 2013) – Delaware’s public school districts reported a second consecutive year of improvement in early teacher hiring in 2012, after years of deteriorating hiring statistics. The University of Delaware’s Institute for Public Administration, which conducts the state’s annual teacher hiring survey, attributed the improvement to legislation written by Lieutenant Governor Matt Denn and State Senator David P. Sokola (D, Newark), chair of the Senate Education Committee.

In 2010, only 35.7% of the new teachers hired by Delaware’s 19 school districts were hired prior to August.  In 2011, the year that Lieutenant Governor Denn and Senator Sokola’s legislation was implemented, the number jumped from 35.7% hired before August to 51.4%. The improvement continued in 2012, with the percentage of teachers hired before August increasing again to 53.5%.

The Institute for Public Administration concluded its 2012-2013 report by stating, “What has led to the reduction in later teacher hiring in Delaware? The most obvious answer is Senate Bill 164 with House Amendment 1, the extension of SB 16….This bill was aimed at decreasing late teacher hiring, and it appears to have had the desired effect.” A copy of that report can be found here: http://www.ipa.udel.edu/publications/teacher_supply13.pdf.

Senate Bill 16 and Senate Bill 164 are bills written by Lieutenant Governor Denn and Senator Sokola, which changed the dates of state guarantees of teacher funds to local school districts from October to May. This earlier guarantee of state funds has allowed school districts to make firm hiring offers to teachers much earlier in the calendar year.

“Earlier hiring of teachers was one of the major roadblocks to teacher recruitment that schools identified for me,” Lieutenant Governor Denn said.  “With surrounding states making earlier hiring offers to the top students coming out of teaching schools, it was very difficult for Delaware schools to compete for the new teachers they wanted to hire.  That’s what motivated us to write this law, and I am extremely pleased to see what a dramatic impact it has had.”

“I’m very happy to see the progress that has been made so far in the early hiring of new teachers for Delaware’s schools,” said Sen. Sokola.  “My hope is that the number of teachers who are hired early will continue to increase.  Early hiring helps our new teachers get oriented quickly and work more effectively within the collaborative teaching model that is becoming so important to the success of our schools.”

Earlier this week, Delaware launched a new campaign, “Join Delaware Schools,” which is aimed at attracting the caliber of teachers necessary to realize the state’s vision of a world-class education system for all students. Central to the campaign is the launch of an online teacher recruitment portal — www.joindelawareschools.org — that gives applicants a one-stop site to look for and learn about education jobs in the state.  Join Delaware Schools is the first statewide teacher recruitment effort of its kind.

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Early Teacher Hiring Improves In Delaware For 2nd Straight Year

Former Lt. Governor Matt Denn (2009-2014) | Office of the Lieutenant Governor | Date Posted: Thursday, October 3, 2013



Independent Study Attributes Improvement to 2011 Legislation

Wilmington, DE (Thursday, October 3, 2013) – Delaware’s public school districts reported a second consecutive year of improvement in early teacher hiring in 2012, after years of deteriorating hiring statistics. The University of Delaware’s Institute for Public Administration, which conducts the state’s annual teacher hiring survey, attributed the improvement to legislation written by Lieutenant Governor Matt Denn and State Senator David P. Sokola (D, Newark), chair of the Senate Education Committee.

In 2010, only 35.7% of the new teachers hired by Delaware’s 19 school districts were hired prior to August.  In 2011, the year that Lieutenant Governor Denn and Senator Sokola’s legislation was implemented, the number jumped from 35.7% hired before August to 51.4%. The improvement continued in 2012, with the percentage of teachers hired before August increasing again to 53.5%.

The Institute for Public Administration concluded its 2012-2013 report by stating, “What has led to the reduction in later teacher hiring in Delaware? The most obvious answer is Senate Bill 164 with House Amendment 1, the extension of SB 16….This bill was aimed at decreasing late teacher hiring, and it appears to have had the desired effect.” A copy of that report can be found here: http://www.ipa.udel.edu/publications/teacher_supply13.pdf.

Senate Bill 16 and Senate Bill 164 are bills written by Lieutenant Governor Denn and Senator Sokola, which changed the dates of state guarantees of teacher funds to local school districts from October to May. This earlier guarantee of state funds has allowed school districts to make firm hiring offers to teachers much earlier in the calendar year.

“Earlier hiring of teachers was one of the major roadblocks to teacher recruitment that schools identified for me,” Lieutenant Governor Denn said.  “With surrounding states making earlier hiring offers to the top students coming out of teaching schools, it was very difficult for Delaware schools to compete for the new teachers they wanted to hire.  That’s what motivated us to write this law, and I am extremely pleased to see what a dramatic impact it has had.”

“I’m very happy to see the progress that has been made so far in the early hiring of new teachers for Delaware’s schools,” said Sen. Sokola.  “My hope is that the number of teachers who are hired early will continue to increase.  Early hiring helps our new teachers get oriented quickly and work more effectively within the collaborative teaching model that is becoming so important to the success of our schools.”

Earlier this week, Delaware launched a new campaign, “Join Delaware Schools,” which is aimed at attracting the caliber of teachers necessary to realize the state’s vision of a world-class education system for all students. Central to the campaign is the launch of an online teacher recruitment portal — www.joindelawareschools.org — that gives applicants a one-stop site to look for and learn about education jobs in the state.  Join Delaware Schools is the first statewide teacher recruitment effort of its kind.

image_printPrint

Related Topics:  , , , ,


Graphic that represents delaware news on a mobile phone

Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.

Here you can subscribe to future news updates.