14 hours ago
Over 500 teacher positions unfilled in Iowa, schools seek online solutions
The start of another school year is within the next week for many school districts across the state. However, many still have unfilled full-time classroom teacher positions.
According to Teach Iowa, there are still over 500 classroom teacher positions that are unfilled across the entire state. Out of those, 30 are world language teachers.
Joe Carter, superintendent at the Algona Community School District, said that applications for for all positions have greatly declined over the past decade.
'Some ten years ago, it wouldn't be abnormal to get 50 to 75 applicants for for a position in rural Iowa, which is where I was,' Carter said. 'Now, you know, we're probably going to get five or six applicants.
The Algona CSD is still searching for a high school Spanish teacher. The job was posted back in February, and over seven months, the district received no applicants.
After no hits, Carter learned of a company that other North Central Conference schools were using for the same problem. Logra Learning is an Iowa based company that teaches online Spanish classes and is approved by the Iowa Department of Education. Carter said that Logra Learning was a great alternative to in-person instruction.
'Their instructors are experienced in teaching Spanish one through four,' Carter said. 'They both have master's degrees in education and curriculum development. And now they're very experienced in online instruction, too. So we think this is the best option available for us right now and the best option for our kids right now.'
Spanish classrooms at Algona CSD will still have a proctor be present in the classrooms, but students will learn from the online Logra Learning instructors.
To see a full list of part-time and full-time positions open at all Iowa schools, visit this link to Teach Iowa.
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