August 10, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools Begin Year with only Three Openings

School districts throughout the Kansas City area and the state of Kansas are having trouble filling teaching positions. It's a problem that is evident nationwide. But that's not the case in the Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools (KCKPS.) According to J.D. Rios, Assistant Superintendent for Human and Community Resources, KCKPS will begin its school year on Monday, August 13 with just three openings.

Rios attributes the district's success in hiring to three factors:

• The positive recognition that the school district has received for the work being done to raise achievement and close the achievement gap.
• The approach that the Human Resources staff, led by Thomas Petz and Barbara Kirkegaard, takes to marketing the school district as a great place to work is finally ringing true. Recruiters, when talking to potential staff, directly address the challenges that teachers in an urban district face, and relate the ways that the district is working with teachers to overcome those challenges. The Human Resources staff is known for treating people as people, not numbers.
• The compacting of the salary schedule, done in conjunction with the teacher’s union, makes it possible for teachers to make it to the top of the pay scale in a shorter time. By making top dollar sooner, their career earnings are larger.

Most of the approximately 200 teaching positions that open up each year in KCK, do so because of retirement.

"The best recruitment is retention. We're doing a better job of retaining teachers now than we have in the past," says Rios. "While the average teaching salary in KCK is somewhat lower than surrounding districts, we're closing the gap. We pay much more than the state average." Salaries in Kansas City, Kansas Public Schools have risen 21% in the past three years. That's a big step to retaining teachers.

Rios relates that the attitude of the KCK school district toward recruiting and retaining teachers is toward choosing people who want to make a career of teaching in Kansas City, Kansas. "We choose to invest in our human capital," he said. "KCK has a first rate staff development program, and we work hard at being supportive of our teachers," he says. "The school board is very supportive of us in that endeavor."

The Kansas City Kansas school district is preparing itself to fill future opening with three "in-house" programs. The Employee to Teacher program grants scholarships to selected KCKPS classified staff to complete their degrees for teaching certification. The Grow Your Own program selects one graduate per year from each high school, and awards them scholarships that are renewable each year of study towards their teaching certification. The KCK Fellows allows professionals from outside the education field, who wish to become teachers, the ability to teach while earning certification in an intense two year program.

"Superintendent Dr. Jill Shackelford has given the district lofty goals to reach by the year 2010.," Rios said. "We are making steady progress toward them. In order to reach these goals, we need to retain and recruit people that are committed to these goals. Thanks to the support of Kansas legislature, we're well on our way. Continued legislative support is imperative to reaching them," concludes Rios.