Cedar Rapids schools contracting with agency to alleviate teaching shortage

CEDAR RAPIDS — The Cedar Rapids Community School District is contracting with an education staffing agency to help alleviate a teaching shortage, specifically in special education.

There has been a national shortage of special education teachers “for over 10 years,” Superintendent Noreen Bush said at a school board meeting last week. “This is not a new situation … What were shortages before, we’re feeling even more now. This is specifically focused on special education.”

As of Aug. 22, there were 27 teaching positions open in the district, 11 of which were for a special-education teacher, executive director of talent management Linda Noggle said in an email to The Gazette. There are about 1,200 teaching positions in the district.

The district also had 60 paraeducator positions open, 40 of which were in special education, Noggle said.

The number of paras needed is determined by Individualized Education Plans — a legal document developed for public school students who need special education. The plans are created with the child’s parent or guardian, teacher and other district personnel. Paraeducators assist in classrooms or work one-on-one with students.

Noggle said contracting with an education staffing agency is a “stopgap.”

The agency — Blazer Works, based in Georgia — has access to 800 recruiters to fill positions on a one-year contract assignment, according to the agreement. The district is billed for any hours worked by those who fill the contracted assignments.

Teachers contracted through the agency will be paid at the same rate as teachers hired by the district, Noggle said.

“When you use contract services like this, they have access to resources we simply just don’t have complete access to,” Noggle said.

"One of the things they can do better than we can because they have more resources than we do is build those relationships with people and engage with them on who’s willing to move, what does it take, what’s licensure they need to get,“ Noggle said. ”They do all that groundwork before they present those candidates to us.“

Noggle said Cedar Rapids schools’ human resources department is collaborating with educators on strategies to improve recruitment and retention in the district.

School board member Jennifer Borcherding said the school board has been asking for attrition data “for some time.”

“I haven’t seen any meaningful attrition data,” Borcherding said. “I think if we don’t focus on why we aren’t retaining, it’s going to be a revolving door.”

The Cedar Rapids Community School District isn’t the only district in Iowa — or the nation — struggling with a shortage of teachers.

School started a week ago, and many Eastern Iowa school districts are facing some of their largest staffing challenges in special education.

Research shows only 69 percent of special education teachers remain in the profession after five years, according to the Iowa Department of Education.

Comments: (319) 398-8411; grace.king@thegazette.com