St. Lucie County Schools sends notice to laid-off Lorain teachers

LORAIN — Sunny weather year-round. A beach instead of a playground. Jobs just waiting to be filled. That could be what’s in store for some of the 243 teachers who were laid off Friday from the Lorain school district — if they don’t mind a 973-mile relocation, that is.
The St. Lucie County School District, located in the southern Florida city of Fort Pierce, is putting out a giant “help wanted” sign to all elementary school teachers who recently lost their jobs.
Janice Williams, whose job it is to recruit teachers for St. Lucie County Schools, has been calling local media to advertise 151 teaching positions that are open in her district. She heard about Lorain’s plight after one of the laid-off Lorain teachers inquired about a job.
The school system, located just two hours north of Miami and two hours south of Orlando, is experiencing tremendous growth and cannot keep up with the demand for teachers, she said.
The district has hired 600 teachers every year for the last three years, and it has been recruiting all over the country to meet demand. They even went so far as to hire 15 teachers from India.
“We just keep growing, and we’re hurting for teachers,” Williams said.
The district has 40,000 students from all over St. Lucie County, and the district just built two new kindergarten through eighth-grade facilities. While a good portion of the teacher slots have been filled for the two buildings, the district still has 151 more jobs available and likely will have several hundred more positions that need filled next year if current growth trends continue, Williams said.
“Anyone with a certification in elementary reading, math and science is almost guaranteed a job,” she said.
The Lorain school board officially laid off 243 teachers Friday to address a looming deficit. That’s nearly one-third of the teachers in the struggling district.
Christine Miller, president of Lorain’s teachers union, said she’s already heard of teachers leaving their families behind in search of work.
 “I can’t imagine that,” Miller said. “It’s devastating, but you have to do what you have to do to live.”
Contact Adam Wright at 329-7151 or awright@chroniclet.com.

By comparison

Lorain City School District
* Bachelor’s degree with no experience: $31,856
* Master’s degree with no experience: $36,634
* Bachelor’s degree with 29 years experience (cap): $56,266
* Master’s degree with 29 years experience (cap): $65,335

St. Lucie County School District
* Bachelor’s degree with no experience: $35,356
* Master’s degree with no experience: $38,621
* Bachelor’s degree with 27 years experience (cap): $59,717
* Master’s degree with 27 years experience (cap): $64,540

City statistics

Lorain
* Population: 67,955
* People under 18 years old: 28.3 percent
* People 65 years old and older: 14 percent
* High school graduates, ages 25 and older: 74.3 percent
* Bachelor’s degree or higher, ages 25 and older: 9.9 percent
* Median household income: $33,917

Fort Pierce, Fla.
* Population: 37,841
* People under 18 years old: 27.2 percent
* People 65 years old and older: 17.5 percent
* High school graduates, ages 25 and older: 59.7 percent
* Bachelor’s degree or higher, ages 25 and older: 12.7 percent
* Median household income:  $25,121

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