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How Peoria Public Schools Cut Its Fall Teacher Vacancies Down To Nearly Zero

WCBU File Photo

When Dr. Sharon Desmoulin-Kherat became superintendent of Peoria Public School in 2015, the district started off the school year with 79 vacant full-time teaching positions.

As students head back to class in 2021, the number of open teaching jobs can now be counted on one hand.

That's not a fluke. Kherat said that's the result of an intentional multifaceted strategy that took years to pull off, but is now paying dividends.

"We have to come up with strategies, a variety of strategies to get that number to zero. And it's a national, it truly is a national crisis," she said. "Many, many districts are, you know, in the same position. And so we just came up with eight strategies."

The district created a recruiter position in 2018 to work full-time at attracting new teachers.

Kherat also began speaking with student teachers from Bradley, Illinois State, and Western Illinois universities about why they weren't seeking full-time employment with the district after obtaining their teacher's license following stints in Peoria.

"Essentially, the kids told me, you know, we just went with the first district who gave us, you know, the district that gave us an offer first. And I'm like, okay. I spoke with my team about that," she said. "And so what we ended up doing, is we targeted student teachers and offered them jobs very early, not only a letter of commitment, but also Board approval, pending paperwork. And so we got 20 teachers out of that."

Twenty-six instructional coaches and school interventionists already on payroll were shifted into full-time classroom teaching roles. That move hasn't come without controversy. Kherat said that call was made after a administrative review of scheduling and internal staffing.

The district is also working with the Illinois State Board of Education's Cultural Exchange Program. That netted the district 29 new teachers from the Philippines, Dominican Republic, and Cameroon.

The idea to recruit internationally came from a conversation Kherat had with her sister, Dawn, who teaches in St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

"It is a tedious, meticulous...lots of red tape and documentation. But it's actually really worth it in the end," Kherat said.

Those cultural exchange teachers were actually supposed to start in August 2020, but COVID-19 and an injunction on visas caused a delay.

Kherat said the teachers are all certified to teach in America. She said the state program doesn't come with too many costs attached.

"The focus is actually on cultural exchange. So they will learn about our country, and our kids and their peers will also learn about their country. And hopefully, we will all be much more culturally aware when everything is said and done," she said.

She said international recruitment is not only easily replicable for other districts struggling with teacher shortages - but essential.

"The American applicant pool is dry. It's very, very dry. I mean, right now, what you're seeing is poaching. People are jumping ship, especially last minute, and I hate when it happens, right before school or you know, a couple of days before school," Kherat said. "And so you're you're struggling and that happens. But we had to go international. We actually had to go internationally. We had no other choice, really."

Kherat said the district is making a longer-term investment into the Grow Your Own teacher, which offers opportunities for non-traditional individuals like clerical staff to become teachers. She's also looking to get kids at the high school or even middle school level within the district on the educator's career path early, but she said that branch of Grow Your Own still needs a champion to spearhead it.

Other recruitment and retention moves include sign-on bonuses, salary matching with other districts, and mentorship programs.

We're really feeling good about it. We're monitoring it, monitoring staff in practically multiple times a day, because there's, there's so many movements and so many changes, also, but we were feeling very, very, very good," Kherat said.

She commended her team for the strides made on districtwide teacher shortages over the past few years.

"All of the strategies being put into place, and kids will benefit, the buildings will benefit. It will increase morale, it will increase the culture and climate and, and ultimately increase growth and student achievement. So we're we're excited, but we cannot sit and celebrate it, because it's an ongoing process," she said.

Tim is the News Director at WCBU Peoria Public Radio.