RANDALLSTOWN, Md (WMAR) — Baltimore County welcomed students back Monday. After a final push to fill vacancies, the district is starting off the year 98% staffed, according to Superintendent Darryl Williams. As of last week, the school system still has about 200 teacher vacancies.
Williams said they will work into the school to fill openings and make adjustments as needed.
The national teacher shortage has meant there just aren’t enough out there to fill all the positions, leaving counties and states competing against each other.
Baltimore County is redeploying teachers from where they thought they were going to teach to cover an area which is a more critical need. The president of the Teachers Association of Baltimore County is worried about this contributing to burnout.
“If there's a position open at a school, another teacher has to cover it. That coverage sometimes takes away from that teacher's planning time or just time from all the tests that they need to do. There's never enough time in our work day to get everything done. There's not a teacher who gets their work done during their typical duty day. You exacerbate that situation when you add students to the class or have them cover another class,” said Cindy Sexton.
To fill the openings, the district has asked recent retirees to return full or part time with competitive pay. They are also hiring college interns to help fill in the gaps.
Sexton said this practice of hiring less experienced teachers is standard and nothing to worry about for parents.
“There are always teachers hired on conditional certificates. I myself was hired on a conditional certificate 21 years ago. I only had my bachelor's degree and the expectation was that I would get a master's and a certification in a certain period of time. And I did. If a person is motivated to become an educator, or any of the fields that work with our students, then knowing that expectation, they're going to work hard for the students and for their own professional good,” said Sexton.
Sexton also said the pay just isn’t there for teachers. The school board voted earlier this month to approve $50 million for pay raises, but it must be approved by the county council. The County Executive has spoken out against the move, saying it will lead to tax increases in the future.
“With the amount of continuing ed and college credits and college degrees that teachers have, they could go into the private sector and earn more money,” said Sexton.
On Monday, the school board is holding a closed virtual session to consult with counsel for legal advice.
BCPS By the Numbers:
176 schools, centers, and programs
Elementary schools: 108
Middle schools: 26
High schools: 24
Special schools, alternative programs, and centers: 18
Student Demographics:
40.4 percent Black or African American
32.8 percent white
14 percent Hispanic/Latino
7.3 percent Asian
5.2 percent multiracial
0.3 percent Native American
0.1 percent Pacific Islander
Services:
53 percent eligible for Free and Reduced-price Meals (FARMS) program
13.6 percent of students receiving special education services
