Wisconsin teacher shortages, recruitment efforts doubled

GREENDALE, Wis. - Although school has started, and most students will start next week, there is a teacher shortage in some districts.

This week is prep week; for a lot of teachers, they are getting their classrooms ready and meeting with parents and kids ahead of the year. Some school districts say the summer has been difficult when it comes to staff.

In a cafeteria full of elementary teachers filling the seats was not easy.

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"It was a very difficult summer filling those positions," said Dr. Kim Amidzich, the Greendale School District superintendent.

Greendale schools head back to the classroom Tuesday, Sept. 5. Amidzich said as teachers prep their classrooms, they had to get creative in a different way.

"This is the first year that we’ve had positions with zero applicants after posting for a week or two," Amidzich said.

Amidzich said finding teachers has been tough, so they started to build a pipeline recruiting alumni to come back and teach paraprofessionals who have become teachers, but that leaves other vacancies.

"There are a number of schools that don’t necessarily have all their positions filled to start the school year and are starting with substitutes or other ways to combine their classrooms," said Amidzich.

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In Greendale, two of the hardest positions to fill were the Spanish and consumer science. Amidzich said their recruitment efforts worked, and the district was able to start the year fully staffed with teachers, but the same can't be said for Milwaukee Public Schools.

"We still have teaching vacancies, and it’s urgent," said Milwaukee Teachers' Education Association President, Amy Mizialko.

Mizialko said MPS has roughly 100 vacancies across almost 150 schools. She said there's not enough funding.

Greendale High School

"The students in MPS schools…there are no new dollars for students this year. We’re starting with a deficit," said Mizialko.

With the school year just days away, recruitment for teachers continues.

FOX6 News reached out to MPS, but no one was available. Other school districts like Franklin and Elmbrook are fully staffed, but most districts say they are still recruiting.