by Rusty Scribes

The teacher shortage has reached a tipping point in the Covid era forcing school districts across the country to come up with innovative ways to get warm bodies in front of students in the classroom. In rural Texas, many districts are going to a four-day work week due to staffing shortages and in Florida anybody who is a military veteran is welcome to teach while they work on getting a fast-track teaching credential.  This has irked long-time teachers who earned their degrees and certificates the hard way and teacher unions throughout the country are up in arms. 

A large California school district has gone a step further and begun recruiting much needed substitutes from the parking lot of a local Home Depot. Are they being resourceful or foolish, only time will tell experts say.

The West Contra Unified School District serves over 30,000 students in the East Bay Area and has suffered teacher retention issues that were only exacerbated during the Covid crisis. One of the district’s many consultants, Harold Baker, noticed while driving by the Home Depot in Richmond on his way to work, many men were just waiting for someone to hire them for local construction and day labor jobs. 

“A light went off in my head”, he told the Dragonfly Report. “What if we could get these men classroom-ready in as little time as possible? It could be worth a try.”

He quickly met with district staff and other consultants and came up with a plan. They would streamline a three week training session that would focus on classroom management, mastering subject matter on the fly, and something called backwards planning. The next step was to actually approach some of these men to see if they could peak their interest.

In late August, according to Baker, they approached three men in the parking lot, told them about the plan and asked if they’d be interested.  All three men appeared suspicious at first and expressed concern that they were being conned. Baker convinced them that it was the real deal and they’d be paid a stipend during the training period and the going sub rate once they started teaching. 

Of the first three men they approached , two decided they weren’t interested due to the pay. 

“They claimed they could make more in construction,” said Baker. “However, we did get our first recruit that day and thus began the program that still operates today.”

Baker insists that the key to the success of the program is flexibility. 

“Some of the early recruits were suffering from teacher burnout. It turned out a few days of construction mixed in with teaching was the perfect balance,” he explained.

“Allowing recruits more say in the subject matter they taught has also improved retention and the promise of visa sponsorship after a year in the program, has encouraged many to stick it out,” continued Baker.

The Dragonfly Report reached out to one of the early recruits Jorge Guzman about his transition from day laborer to teacher.

“It’s like another world for me. The work isn’t physically as hard as I am used to but it’s still work. Some days are better than others,” he explained.

Guzman went on to tell us that he prefers the days when he is asked to sub for an Assistant Principal.

“I just walk around and look into classrooms. Sometimes I sit in a room and they send me kids who are kicked out of class. All I have to do is send them back after a few minutes. The pay is better too, ” he said smiling.

According to Baker, they now have five regular subs from the HD recruitment program and things seem to be going well. 

“Word is getting around that it’s a nice alternative to day labor,” said Baker. “Any given  morning, if you drive by the Home Depot,  you’ll see a growing number of potential recruits carrying signs with their preferred subjects written on them.”

We reached out to the teacher’s union for comment and a spokesman said they were still trying to process the situation and would make a statement later.

Harold Baker is convinced the program is and will continue to be a great success.

“It may not be ideal but it’s better to have a warm body than no body in a classroom,” he said laughing. “It also saves the district money.”

Parents seem to agree. The few we contacted also emphasized that somebody is better than nobody when it comes to teaching their kids and the three-week training session by consultants is a big plus.

A spokesperson from the superintendent’s office told us the reason for the teacher shortage is complicated and whether this is a long term or short term solution remains to be seen. 

“Regardless, the next time you drive by the Home Depot honk your horn in a show of support for these recruits who are no doubt at least for now having a profound effect on the minds of the future,” she said.