MPS holds first of five recruitment events to fill 700 positions

MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- The Milwaukee Public School District has 700 positions to fill for the 2013-2014 school district, and kicked off a series of recruitment events on Wednesday, February 6th.

The first of five recruitment sessions was held on Wednesday at Manitoba School. This recruitment event was focused on special education teachers.

In addition to 700 teaching positions, MPS also needs at least a dozen principals and paraprofessionals.

”We have a significant number of employees, including teachers, who are retirement eligible. This is really the third year of that wave brought on in large part because baby boomers represent a very significant share of our workforce in the district," MPS Spokesman Tony Tagliavia said.

Tagliavia said MPS is serious about recruiting the best and brightest to its rank. The district has boosted starting salaries to $41,000 from $37,721.

The district is also giving teachers coming into hard-to-fill positions like science, bilingual positions and special education positions extra time to meet the residency requirement.

"They will be coming into a district that’s made a lot of progress, put in significant reforms. Our graduation rate is up 17% between now and the class of 2000," Tagliavia said.

There will be four more recruitment sessions coming up, with most focused on certain areas of need.

On March 2nd, a recruitment session will be held at Vincent High School for all positions.

“Teachers and paraprofessionals attending that district wide event in March could walk away with a contract," Tagliavia said.

Additional recruiting event information is as follows:

February 13 – 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. – Bilingual, K3/K4, Head Start teacher focus

Milwaukee School of Languages: 8400 W. Burleigh Street, Milwaukee 53222

February 20 – 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. – Science/Technology/Engineering/Math, Reading teacher focus

Alexander Hamilton High School: 6215 W. Warnimont Avenue, Milwaukee 53220

March 2 – 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. – Teachers (K-12, all certifications) and paraprofessionals district-wide

Harold S. Vincent High School: 7501 N. Granville Road, Milwaukee 53224

March 20 – 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. – Principal recruitment informational meeting

Milwaukee Public Schools Central Services: 5225 W. Vliet Street, Milwaukee 53208

Applicants seeking additional information can CLICK HERE to learn more or apply. They can also contact the Milwaukee Public Schools Office of Human Resources at (414) 475-8224 for more information.