Manatee County School District looking to fill more than 50 teacher vacancies

SARASOTA, Fla. (WWSB) - The Manatee County School District held a job fair looking to fill about 69 teacher vacancies for the more than 50,000 students in the district.

Since the first day of school, there’s been an increase in student enrollments by more than a thousand. With the school district’s population continuing to grow, reaching 50,000 enrollments for the first time in the district’s history, the need for more teachers is also growing.

At the beginning of the new school year there were only 20 teacher vacancies. Since then that number has more than doubled. The district gave out nine job offers but still there are 60 vacancies to fill.

District officials say the cause could be that some teachers are deciding the classroom just isn’t for them as well as the ongoing growth in enrollment.

Nearly two years ago a referendum was passed to allow teachers more pay. People with the teacher’s union say because of the referendum the district can compete statewide, but not nationwide. Florida has some of the lowest paid teachers in the country, ranking 46 in the nation.

If interested in a teaching career, apply here https://www.manateeschools.net/careers

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