CHARLOTTE — Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools are aggressively trying to hire teachers in an effort to fill hundreds of vacancies.
The district said that while they have already hired several new educators, there are still challenges to overcome.
Albermarle Middle School teacher Naija Mottely told Channel 9 that last year she was teaching a lecture hall at Georgia State University. Now she is one of the newly hired teachers within CMS.
Mottely teaches social studies and said she wants students to enter and leave her classroom excited about history.
“I want everyone to be a history teacher when they leave here. And what I mean by that is, I want them to have an experience where they take things away and they want to share it with their friends,” Mottely explained.
However, CMS says finding passionate new teachers like Mottley isn’t easy.
CMS Talent Acquisition Director Kristen England said the district is continuing to look for teachers, but there is a nationwide shortage. Currently, the district has more than 400 vacancies.
“We are definitely seeing a challenge. We are seeing math in middle and high school as the most difficult,” England said.
CMS said another tough position to fill is special education, which is why the district is increasing incentives for the position. Those incentives include a $5,000 bonus plus an additional $200 a month.
While Mottely said she is sticking with teaching social studies, any incentives used to attract more teachers will help. However, she said money isn’t everything.
Yes, I think it will help, but teaching is something that you want to do because it’s not always peaches and cream,” Mottely said.
CMS said they have 200 additional teachers in the hiring pipeline to fill the vacancies in the coming weeks.
In the meantime, the school district said they are hiring retired teachers to work part-time, as well as using virtual teaching options.
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