Philadelphia is looking to hire teachers for next school year in a major way.

In fact, the school system wants 800 new teachers to be inducted into the school system by June of this year. It hopes to receive as many as 5,000 applications to consider for the positions.

The goal, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, is that the city’s public schools will avoid problems it ran into last fall, when almost 200 teaching positions were vacant in October.

But is a goal of hiring 800 teachers in a matter of months achievable?

"Union leaders welcomed the district's effort but questioned whether the goals could be accomplished,” the Inquirer said.

Jerry Jordan, president of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, told the Inquirer that as districts compete to hire teachers and the drawbacks of the profession (low pay, out-of-pocket expenses for supplies) keep new teachers at bay, recruitment is a difficult thing these days.

But "Megan MacDonald, the district's manager of institutional and school-based recruitment, said the district is stressing the opportunities to help change students' lives,” the article said.

The district is looking to staff teaching positions in all areas, particularly in the typical hard-to-fill fields like special education. It is also hiring support staff like nurses and counselors.

If you’re interested in applying, the Inquirer said that “[a]pplicants are encouraged to meet an early deadline of March 25. Qualified candidates will be eligible for site selection, which begins April 18, when principals and school teams begin choosing staff.”

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Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

3/17/2016