JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Duval County Public School District says it’s looking to hire hundreds of teachers for the fall.
The district is holding two career fairs this week, only this year they're going to look at little different.
"The pandemic has certainly changed our recruitment efforts, but we are moving full steam ahead because we always need teachers," Alex Marx, HR staffing supervisor for DCPS said.
This year DCPS is doing it all online through a virtual recruitment fair.
"When they go in the fair they are brought into literally a virtual lobby and it shows all of the booths of our schools and all of our schools that have set up that virtual booth," Marx said.
That teacher candidate can select which booth they want to enter and speak directly the principal from that school.
The district typically hires about 350 teachers per year.
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While it’s looking to hire teachers in all subjects, some of its critical needs include special education, math, and science.
Marx told Action News Jax that schools nationwide have been dealing with a teacher shortage.
She said part of the problem is that fewer college students see teaching as a viable career path. Furthermore, because of the pandemic the school district hasn’t been able to recruit at spring college fairs as it would typically do.
The district also hasn’t been able to hold in-person interviews.
When it comes to finding the right candidate, Marx says schools are looking for people who can accept the challenge even when there’s a lot of uncertainly with how learning will look in the fall.
"Flexibility, adaptability to change, that’s always going to be apart of being a teacher," Marx said.
The virtual career fair takes place Thursday June 4 and Friday June 5.
It’s not too late to register: for a list of times and how to sign up, you can click here.
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