The Stand
Teachers and school officials met on the South Side this week to talk about the upcoming year, including the upcoming back-to-school event at Dr. King Elementary School on Tuesday
By Laura Román López
Syracuse city educators shared their priorities for the coming school year on Thursday, including efforts to make it easier to recruit new teachers.
Teachers and administrators at the event at the Syracuse Alliance Church also emphasized their efforts to help students feel confident and comfortable when they start the school year on Wednesday, Sept. 6th, as well as plans to address the needs of Syracuse’s growing population of new Americans.
The teachers from STEAM at Dr. King Elementary School who attended the event said the school has called more than 100 families during the past two weeks to see if they could help them get ready for the coming school year. Dr. King will host its “Back To School BBQ & Meet the Teacher” event this upcoming Tuesday, Sept. 5th. The event will feature food, raffles, school supplies and even barbers for back-to-school haircuts.
Superintendent Anthony Davis said one of his top concerns is the nationwide teacher shortage that is also affecting Syracuse. He said he is working with state officials to make it easier to recruit teachers to New York. He wants New York to accept out-of-state certifications to make it easier for teachers to make the move.
“We’re going south and trying to recruit people up,” Davis said. “It’s really hard to get certified in New York state. If we can say we’re going to honor their current certification, then we can work out whatever else we need to do for them.”
Davis also talked about the launch of a new adult education program for people moving to Syracuse. Some of the program attendees may even find themselves working for the district.
“We have a huge influx of new Americans that are coming to the area,” Davis said. “A lot of these folks that are in the adult program want to start as teaching assistants, which will give us a great opportunity to use them for language barriers and to help classrooms and students who are coming to our district.”
