With the teacher shortage affecting schools in the region and around the nation, Vienna High School has taken steps to encourage its graduates to apply as teachers upon completion of their college degree and teacher credentials.
The Vienna Board of Education voted unanimously to adopt a hiring process and criteria to include the following: “Applicants who have graduated from Vienna High School and who have a teaching license and graduated from Vienna High School with a College and Career Pathway Endorsement, which is a career college pathway endorsement in education on their high school diploma, shall be granted an interview for any open teaching positions for which they qualify.”
Vienna is the first school in the region to adopt such a policy, one that was developed under the leadership of Vienna’s director of student career services, Leslie Bradley, along with Brooke May, coordinator of the Southern Illinois Teachers Futures Coalition. Bradley says, “A recent report from Advance Illinois shows that the efforts of many organizations are beginning to show improvement in the number of teachers in the supply line, but shortages persist.” Bradley continues, “We are investing in our future by offering dual credit education courses and a program to earn an endorsement in education. We want our students to know that their time spent earning that endorsement means a clear path toward a job interview and an opportunity to show us why you should be hired as a teacher.”
