The search for teachers:
Issues and strategies

Recruitment and retention strategies
Alternative certification remains a viable option for those making the transition from another career to teaching. Individuals who do not have a teaching degree may be hired in a district with a bachelor’s degree in a specific content area as they work toward certification.

Programs such as Teach For America and Troops to Teachers also have filled a void in certain areas. Teach For America is a national corps of recent college graduates with a variety of academic degrees who commit to two years of teaching in public schools that serve low-income students. This school year, 49 corps members are working in South Dakota schools.

Troops to Teachers aims to recruit individuals leaving the military into the teaching profession. The program offers financial support for participants to take courses and stipends for teaching in high need areas.

Governor Mike Rounds initiated the Dakota Corps Scholarship to encourage young people to remain in South Dakota upon graduating from college and to boost the number of professionals serving in certain critical need occupations. Currently, teaching K-12 music, special education or foreign language, and teaching high school math or science are considered critical need occupations in South Dakota.

The Governor also created an event designed to support first- and second-year teachers. Held each summer, the Governor’s New Teacher Academy brings new teachers together for three days of professional development and networking with colleagues. By providing these new teachers with support early on in their careers, the hope is that they will continue to stay in the profession.

In an effort to help districts enhance local teacher salaries, Gov. Rounds proposed the Teacher Compensation Assistance Program during the 2007 legislative session. The program became part of the final spending package for schools, providing $4 million in state money to give to districts that came up with a plan for enhancing teacher salaries based on district instructional goals, market compensation or a combination of both.

“We believe that TCAP offers a measurable way of beginning to address the issue of teacher compensation,” Melmer said. “It should give districts one more resource to use, whether they use the dollars as a signing bonus to attract a much-needed teacher or as additional compensation to a group of teachers who participate in meeting a specific district goal.”

The state Department of Education also recently applied for and received a Teacher Incentive Fund grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Through the five-year, $20 million grant, South Dakota will implement a performance-based compensation system for principals and teachers at 30 pilot schools.

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