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State Expects Teacher Shortage; Hillsborough Doesn't

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By ADAM EMERSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 24, 2008

Updated: 11/24/2008 05:21 pm

TAMPA - The state expects a shortage of qualified teachers in math, science, reading and exceptional education, among other high-need subjects, for the 2009-10 school year, according to a state report set to go before Florida's Board of Education next week.

Some school districts, however, may find it easier picking "highly qualified" prospects this year.

Despite a slowdown in hiring, the Hillsborough County School District has received, on average, more applications per day this year (19.28) than it did all of last year (17.69), said Linda Cobbe, a school district spokeswoman.

These days, the district has seen interest swell not only among teachers squeezed out of budget-strapped school systems in neighboring Pinellas, Polk and Sarasota counties, but also among Realtors and mortgage brokers seeking a new career in a souring economy.

The needs in the Hillsborough County School District mirror those in the rest of the state, said Quincenia Bell, the district's teacher recruiter. Hillsborough always has faced a shortage of teachers in math, science and exceptional student education.

The challenge is seeking out teachers certified to meet the need.

"Some of the applicants are not education majors," Bell said. "Their challenge is to convince that principal that even though they didn't go to school to teach, that they can teach.

"We are in a position where we can be more selective," Bell said.

Next week when they meet in Orlando, state school board members will identify the areas in which school districts will face a "critical shortage" of teachers. They are the same ones the board identified in 2007:

•Middle and high school math;

•Middle and high school science;

•Middle and high school English and language arts;

•Reading;

•Exceptional student education;

•English for speakers of other languages, or ESOL;

•Foreign languages;

•And technology education and industrial arts.

Reporter Adam Emerson can be reached at (813) 259-8285 or aemerson@tampatrib.com.

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