COLUMBIA – Columbia Public Schools (CPS) hired more than 20 new teachers Saturday with on-the-spot job offers in a new push to outcompete other schools in a tight labor market.
It was the district’s largest recruiting event of the year, according to Michelle Holz, the district’s chief human resources officer. Half of the new hires are elementary school teachers and the other half are middle school and high school teachers. More hires will come next week, Holz said.
“We have to be more aggressive,” Holz said. “We have to, like I said, offer candidates’ positions right away otherwise we’ll lose them to other districts.”
This is the first time CPS extended on-the-spot job offers at its recruiting fair, according to Holz. The district is trying to fill vacancies and stay on top of projected openings next school year.
The district also hosted a new job fair. Candidates could speak with CPS principals, teachers, and staff who set up tables with free candy, pens, and stickers. Principals could pull aside candidates for interviews and extend a job offer, Holz said. More than 80 people attended the fair, and the district would “love” to hire “at least half of those”, Holz said.
Hiring – and holding onto teachers – has been a struggle for Missouri schools. 44% of newly-hired teachers leave in their first three years in the classroom and approximately 54% leave within the initial five years, according to a report from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Missouri ranks 50th in the nation for average starting teacher pay, according to a 2023 report from the Missouri National Education Association. Only 43 of Missouri’s 518 school districts offered a starting salary of $40,000 or more for the 2021-22 school year.
Starting teacher pay is $40,900 at CPS, according to district spokesperson Michelle Baumstark. That’s slightly higher than other mid-Missouri school districts.
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Starting Teacher Pay in mid-Missouri
Earlier this month, the Columbia Public Schools Board of Education voted to make salary increases a priority for its 2024-25 budget. CPS started this school year with every teacher position filled, Baumstark told KOMU 8 in an email.
“As with any employer, we have ebbs and flows when it comes to consistently maintaining a 100% fill-rate throughout the course of a school year,” Baumstark said.
About 200 employees leave or retire from CPS every year, according to Baumstark, and the district works to fill those positions as quickly as possible. Overall, the district’s biggest issue is hiring support staff like classroom aides and custodial staff, Baumstark said.
On Jan. 11, CPS board members reviewed a report on the district’s hiring and retention plan. CPS has more than 70 support staff vacancies, according to the report. here are 52 positions open full time and 24 part time.
Saturday’s job fair was only for teachers. The district plans to hold a virtual hiring event in the spring. Ultimately, the goal is to provide students with the best possible education, Holz said. CPS hopes to snatch up quality teachers before other districts can hire them.
“We provide them with an offer so that they can’t leave here [the job fair] not being a CPS employee,” Holz said.