From OA Online, August 11, 2022
Armed with more than 400 new teachers and a pool of 500 substitutes, Ector County ISD is raring to go for this school year.
Superintendent Scott Muri said teachers from 25 countries are represented in classrooms across the district. He added that there is a member of the Human Capital Department who oversees all of the recruiting, retention and support of those individuals.
Muri said there are companies around the world that help identify teachers for districts. He added that there are teachers in the United States that teach abroad.
“We partner with several of these companies that recruit these teachers. These are teachers that are certified in their own countries. They have to go through a process in order to receive a visa, a work permit in our country. It’s a journey for those folks, and then once they’re in the United States, there are some additional requirements that teachers have to go through to continue teaching in this country year after year,” Muri said.
ECISD has about 2,000 teachers. Muri added there are almost 500 substitute teachers in the substitute pool.
“We haven’t seen that number of substitute teachers in many years, but this year we have a healthy number of substitutes, so when our teachers are sick, or we need to provide coverage … we’re able to that this year. … Those that are interested in substitute teachers have really risen to the occasion,” Muri said.
He added that the district has made a “significant investment in our human capital strategy over the last three years.”
“We’ve increased teacher compensation. We provide some incentives for teachers to earn more money. We’re developing the professionalism of teachers in our own organization through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, building the quality and caliber of teachers that we have, providing leadership opportunities for teachers through Opportunity Culture®. There are plenty of strategies and tactics that we’ve been able to leverage over the past three years … so, again, kudos to our board of trustees for supporting that work; our Human Capital team for thinking creatively and innovatively to address those needs and then specifically hiring and retaining really great teachers …,” Muri said.