Cedar Rapids schools’ hiring bonuses attract new teachers

CEDAR RAPIDS — In an effort to fill open teaching positions by the start of the 2023-24 school year, the Cedar Rapids Community School District offered up to $5,000 in hiring incentives over the next three years for new teachers.

At the time of the incentive offer in May, open positions made up about 5.5 percent of certified teaching staff in the district, the majority of those open positions being in elementary schools and special education programs.

The district offered a $1,500 bonus over two years to any current employees who refer a teacher to the district and that person stays for two years.

They also are paying a $5,000 hiring bonus for new special education teachers to the district who stay for three years, and a bonus of $3,000 for newly hired teachers with experience working with Black, Indigenous and other people of color who stay for three years. These bonuses will paid over a three-year period.

The incentives are being funded by the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund — federal relief dollars provided during the pandemic. The third year of the bonus for special education teachers will come from the special education fund, Grover said. Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds expire September 2024.

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What’s happened since

There were 147 teachers hired in the Cedar Rapids Community School District for the 2023-24 school year. Fifteen of these educators were eligible for the special education hiring bonus, and 29 were eligible for a bonus for their experience working with Black, Indigenous and other people of color who stay for three years.

Cedar Rapids schools’ chief human resource officer Darius Ballard said while the bonuses helped the district fill open teaching positions, the “biggest attraction is the excitement around what we’re trying to do here.”

This left about 25 teaching positions open this year. District leaders worked with principals and school staff on “creative” solutions, including working with community partners and increasing the number of students in a classroom from 25 to 27, for example.

“It’s not ideal,” Ballard said.

In September, the Cedar Rapids school board approved a new strategic plan that includes goals for staff retention, recruitment, attendance and job satisfaction. There is a focus on providing staff professional learning to develop leadership skills and feel supported in career goals.

The strategic plan calls for a 20 percent increase in the hiring of educators of color by June 2026, and increasing overall staff retention 10 percent by June 2027.

“There’s a lot of ambitious goals,” Ballard said. “It has the ability to really change and enhance the experience for everyone who works in our district.”

Ballard said school officials are “still evaluating” the possibility of continuing to offer hiring bonuses next year, and they are in the process of determining how many teaching positions will be open for the 2024-25 school year. He expects available positions to be posted as early as March.

“We don’t just want teachers. We want teachers who are going to do a great job, thrive and succeed with our students,” Ballard said. “Happy and high-quality teachers — that’s how students achieve better.”

“We’re looking at how to market ourselves differently,” Ballard said. “We’re hoping to bring into people’s considerations some other things that make our district unique, make us more enticing on the marketplace. We have to do a better job of making people aware of the uniqueness we offer. There’s a lot of opportunity here.”

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