St. Paul Public Schools is offering more than $1 million in hiring bonuses in hopes of filling a range of special-education positions and other hard-to-fill jobs for the 2023-24 school year.
“In this competitive job market, we need to do everything we can to attract the best candidates to our classrooms,” Patricia Pratt-Cook, executive chief of human resources, said in a news release Monday.
In a report earlier this year from the Professional Educator Licensing and Standards Board, 84 percent of Minnesota school district leaders said they were feeling the effects of the teacher shortage. That’s up from 70 percent two years prior.
The St. Paul district, which already has the second-highest average teacher salary in the state, at $85,128 last year, is offering $10,000 bonuses to the first 70 teachers, social workers, psychologists and speech pathologists they hire who are licensed for special education.
Up to 50 new educational assistants and 50 teaching assistants in special education will get $4,000 bonuses.
And current special-education teachers in the district with Tier 2 licenses can get an extra $2,000 for obtaining a permanent license.
In addition, separate from special-education, the district is offering $4,000 bonuses to the first 60 new hires in math, chemistry, middle school science, physical education, Montessori, language immersion and Spanish.
