Schools
BCPS Teacher Hiring Push Includes Pay Raise Before School Year Starts
Baltimore County is hiring more teachers. A pay raise and TV ads are bolstering the hiring push, despite recent job cuts.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly said fewer than 25 Baltimore County Public Schools non-teaching employees were laid off. Fewer than 25 BCPS employees were reassigned after their previous positions lost funding.
BALTIMORE COUNTY, MD — Baltimore County Public Schools will have far fewer teacher vacancies this year compared to last year.
The school system had 126.6 full-time equivalent teacher vacancies as of Tuesday. That's down from 295.4 the year prior.
Find out what's happening in Perry Hallfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Pay raises have bolstered these efforts. The starting teacher's salary is now $60,000 in Baltimore County. First-year educators made $58,500 last school year. The salary was $54,939 in the 2022-23 year, WBAL reported.
State law requires educator pay to reach $60,000 by 2026 through the Blueprint for Maryland's Future. Baltimore County reached that threshold two years early.
Find out what's happening in Perry Hallfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"We are more than 98% fully staffed as a school system, the highest that we've been in years," Superintendent Myriam Rogers said at last Tuesday's Board of Education meeting.
About 57% of schools have no teacher vacancies, and 90% have two openings or less. Two schools countywide have more than four vacancies.
The high staffing levels tell two stories. BCPS ramped up hiring efforts, but it also cut jobs in this year's budget.
BCPS eliminated 527 positions, including 255 already vacant teacher roles. That means there were fewer educator openings to fill this year.
The reductions resulted in fewer than 25 non-teaching employees being reassigned to new roles.
On the other hand, the hiring campaign deserves mention.
A total of 679 new teachers attended a recent new-hire orientation. BCPS also held five hiring events with 493 attendees.
Two brand new schools opening this month, Bedford Elementary School and Nottingham Middle School, demanded new hires.
"We're really excited about this work that's happening in human resources and in schools. We have even partnered with a radio station, iHeartRadio, as well as a television station to run commercials," Rogers said. "That work remains ongoing."
Class starts on Aug. 26.
Related: Baltimore County Public Schools Calendar 2024-25: Key Dates To Know
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