Out with old, in with new at public schools

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Julie Hay, a new first-grade teacher at Westwoods Elementary in Traverse City, prepares valance curtains for her classroom two weeks before students return. Lindsay VanHulle/Record-Eagle

August 24, 2010

Older teachers retire, so new teachers are hired

BY LINDSAY VANHULLE lvanhulle@record-eagle.com The Record Eagle Tue Aug 24, 2010, 07:14 AM EDT

TRAVERSE CITY — Administrators in some local school districts will trim payrolls by hiring newer and fewer employees to replace hundreds of veteran staffers who retired last spring.

The effort is largest in Traverse City's public schools, where 160 employees retired — including 65 teachers.

A number of vacancies remained open this week. To date, 35 teachers have been hired and 20 part-time teachers became full time, said Christine Davis, TCAPS' executive director of human resources.

"It's just been incredible," she said. "The quality of the application pool for our teaching positions is unprecedented."

Gov. Jennifer Granholm in May signed a boosted pension formula to encourage eligible school employees to retire, an effort to cut costs.

New hires will have to work five years longer, until age 60, before they can retire, and school employees will have to pay 3 percent of their salaries into a health care fund starting this year.

Administrators said last spring's exodus created more openings than usual for available teachers, including those laid off because of the recession and those fresh out of college.

Of the 35 new teachers in Traverse City, 17 are in their first year, Davis said. Of the 18 with some experience, 10 have six or more years on the job.

In two weeks, Julie Hay will have a classroom of first-graders at Westwoods Elementary in Traverse City. She spent last year teaching fifth grade in Northport, her first as an educator.

For her interview, Hay said she discussed a writing sample with a student while a panel of instructors watched. They later asked questions about her method.

"I want to create an environment that's comfortable, welcoming," she said of the room she is readying. "I love when kids ask questions and we get to explore."

Tom Stobie, superintendent of Frankfort-Elberta Area Schools, plans to replace all four teachers who retired last year. Two secondary positions are not yet filled.

At first, Stobie said he wanted to attract newer teachers, who earn the lowest amounts on union pay scales and "would have made a big impact on our budget."

But he hired both an experienced elementary teacher and a newer one, and said he now wants "the best person."

In Elk Rapids, some half-time employees were promoted to full time, and additional full- and part-time employees will be hired, Superintendent Steve Prissel said.

"We're going to take the best candidate," Prissel said. "We don't really consider the cost at that point because we want the best teachers we can get."

Yet the market hasn't been a boon for everyone.

Two part-time social workers were laid off in Traverse City, and a third was reduced from full time to part time because of a drop in federal funding for services for students considered "at risk," Davis said.

In some cases, not all retired employees will be replaced. Fewer teachers will be needed in Traverse City, in part because the school board approved a class-size increase in February. Some Frankfort support positions will be part time.

Rob Welch lost his teaching job at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Middle School, part of Grand Traverse Area Catholic Schools, in May 2009.

Welch has interviewed since, but hasn't landed a job. He said he was told his interviews went well.

He is starting to wonder if he has too much experience for the current climate. A nine-year teacher, Welch started his career in North Carolina when he was told he was too green in Michigan.

"It does save on their budget," Welch, 37, said of hiring recent graduates. "Just because I have experience doesn't mean that I've lost my energy."

St. Elizabeth downsized because the school had "a couple small classes in there," GTACS Superintendent Mike Buell said. Fewer teachers were needed.

GTACS enrollment wavered between 960 and 980 for about five years. Last year's count of 963 was one of the smallest in recent history, Buell added, but he anticipates at least 10 new students this fall.

Landing a teaching job is harder still given that applicants far outnumber openings.

In all, 2,800 people applied for 122 positions in Traverse City, Davis said. And more than 120 job-seekers applied in Frankfort.