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Tonya Papanikolas Reporting Some school districts are still scrambling to hire teachers. Schools say the teacher shortage has made it hard to fill vacant positions.
One of the principals we talked to said he'd rather wait and hire quality candidates than just hurry to fill the position, but it's tough ;with low salaries and concerns about benefits, fewer people are going into teaching.
It's the first day of school at Heartland Elementary. The 6th graders are getting to know their new teacher.
Mr. John Kelly, Long-Term Substitute Teacher: "The kids are very apprehensive. They don't know who I am or anything about me, so the first hours we've spend together getting to know each other."
Part of the reason the kids don't know Mr. Kelly is he's a substitute. But he's excited to be teaching this class until the school is able to hire a permanent teacher.
Mr. Kelly: "At the point we're talking about now, I'll be here until they kick me out the door."
Trenton Goble, Heartland Elementary Principal: "It's been dramatically more difficult to hire teachers this year."
Heartland is one of many school still trying to hire teachers. Subs are temporarily filling 19 open positions in the Jordan District. The district says that's really pretty good, since it had to hire 500 new teachers this year. The hiring was tough on principals.
Trenton Goble, Heartland Elementary Principal: "When a lot of schools have openings and there are very few candidates, it becomes very competitive."
Britanie Green, New 3rd Grade Teacher: "This was my second interview, and I didn't feel like I needed to go anywhere else, but I got many calls after, and I just had to tell them that I had a job."
The teacher shortage isn't just affecting the Jordan District. In fact, districts across the state are trying to get creative to fill their last-minute teaching positions.
Last week, the Davis District still had about 12 spots to fill. They said the candidate pool was so small, they thought of something new, offering student teachers permanent jobs. Jennifer Johnson is taking advantage of the opportunity.
Jennifer Johnson, Student-Teacher/4th Grade Teacher, Valley View Elementary: "I feel really fortunate here because the support system is incredible. And everybody, all the teachers are asking what they can do to help me."
Student teachers still have to have a supervisor who will evaluate them for at least part of the day, but for the most part, they will be in the classroom by themselves.
