DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — Georgia's third-largest school district is among the 181 districts competing for top educators across the state.
"It's been difficult to sometimes compete," Dr. Tekisha Ward-Smith, DeKalb County Schools Human Resource Administrator, explained.
She said the district is going in a new direction under the leadership of Superintendent Dr. Devon Horton. They're working to recruit within their own district, specifically in their classrooms.
"We want to begin to create a workforce by DeKalb for DeKalb," Ward-Smith said.
Kallima James, a first-year teacher at Tucker High School, is a product of the DeKalb County School District and is now helping educate our future.
"Going from student to teacher, it's been an eye-opening change," James said.
She was a substitute, in which the district saw her potential and offered her a full-time position.
"I said if I'm able to, I really want to go for it," James said.
Many more students across the district will soon have the same opportunity, going from student to educator through a teacher residency program.
"Those individuals will have a master's degree in a total of one year, but with that particular degree," she said. "We're going to ask them to make a commitment to teach in the district."
Ward-Smith said the idea behind this program is to get the district to a point where they don't have to rely on colleges and universities to produce the state's next top educators.
"It's our goal that within a year or two's time, we will be able to handle our own vacancies," she said.
As they head into the new school year, Ward-Smith emphasized the importance of not only recruiting great teachers but also retaining them. Recently, the board of education passed a 6% raise for current employees and a step increase.
As for the DeKalb Teacher Residency program, it's expected to roll out later this fall as a long-term solution to addressing teacher shortages. The district is expected to release more on the program in the coming months before it gets underway in 2024.