FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – School districts in Miami-Dade and Broward counties are still searching for teachers.
As of Tuesday, Miami-Dade County Public Schools had 224 vacancies and more than 17,000 teachers. Broward County Public Schools had 148 vacancies and more than 15,000 teachers.
“We’re doing pretty good but we’re not done yet,” Broward Superintendent Vickie L. Cartwright said. “Our goal is to have highly qualified individuals in front of every student in every classroom.”
Miami-Dade Superintendent Jose Dotres said the tight labor market is also affecting other sectors.
“It’s about retention,” Dotres said. “We want to make sure that the teachers that we hire we’re able to keep them.”
Anna Fusco, the president of the Broward Teachers Union, said that aside from low pay, teachers in South Florida are also having to deal with other stresses such as a new law known as “Don’t Say Gay.”
“They can’t teach authentically and they’re just being scrutinized and just demoralized,” Fusco said.
Amid the shortage, Fusco said the school districts need to evaluate the situation of new teachers who are placed on probation and quickly let go without trying to place them in a different school.
“Let’s have a conversation, see why there wasn’t a good fit, and let’s move them to another school,” Fusco said.
Read the guidance on ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill