February 21, 2014

Pinellas schools to fill tutor shortage with college students, retirees

By Anastasia Dawson, St. Petersburg Tribune Staff, originally published on 12/3/13

The Pinellas County School System has offered a slew of new tutoring opportunities to students this school year, but has struggled to find enough teachers to keep up with demand. Now, the school district is looking to college students and retirees to plug the gap. College students with at least 60 credit hours can earn $20 an hour tutoring students in the Pinellas County School System. In years past, the position has paid teachers $13 to $15 an hour.

The new plan is meant to fill the shortage of available teachers in the Extended Learning Program. Retired educators, and those with expired teaching certificates can also take advantage of the employment opportunity, a point of contention with the Pinellas Classroom Teachers Association. During salary negotiations earlier this year, president of the Pinellas Classroom Teachers’ Association Kim Black said teachers should be paid their normal hourly wages during the after school tutoring sessions, which can be around $36 an hour for some veterans of the school system, instead of the “discounted rate,” that some view as a “way to get teaching on the cheap.”

But while Black argues that more teachers may be encouraged to work extra hours with more pay, Pinellas Park Middle School Principal Dave Rosenberger said the demands that came with the multiple programs added this school year make teacher burnout a real concern. At Pinellas Park Middle, a majority of the 1,100 students take advantage of before and after school programs that can keep some at school from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., eating all three meals in the school cafeteria alongside their teachers. The extra programs are intended to change the culture at the school, which got a new principal and staff this year after years of failing school grades from the state. Yet, the grueling hours can take a toll on teachers, Rosenberger said.

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Filed under: Academic Learning Centers,High School,K-8

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