Teachers in paradise?
They come from across the country to enjoy our climate and lifestyle. So how come many don't stay for long?

Claudia Zequeira | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted May 1, 2006

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This fall, Florida public schools will need 32,000 new teachers -- thousands of whom will come from somewhere else.

In Central Florida, up to half of the several thousand newcomers each year come from places with surplus teachers or teachers on the move -- including New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois and Puerto Rico.

Eager for a job or a new challenge, often lured by the climate, they launch new lives in Florida's sunshine.

But some find unexpected challenges.

Salaries on average are lower than where many came from. Housing prices and the cost of living may be higher.

Some may have trouble adapting to multicultural classrooms and the number of Spanish speakers in some districts.

In those cases, a little friendship can go a long way. So when Morgan Music learned that Kissimmee Elementary had hired 12 teachers from other states for this school year, she asked the school for names and e-mail addresses, then dropped the newcomers a note.

"I asked them to e-mail me questions or concerns," said Music, 31, a first-grade teacher who came from Pennsylvania less than three years ago.

"I also offered them a tour of the school and told them who to contact if they needed anything. No one did it for us when we got here. . . . I thought it'd be a nice thing to do."

Friendship among newcomers is not mandatory, but districts can use any help that keeps teachers from leaving town.

Demand for teachers keeps growing. Statewide, the number of instructors jumped from 132,000 in 1995 to nearly 183,000 in 2005. Further increases are expected in the next few years as districts add personnel to reduce class sizes.

Orange County will need about 2,500 new teachers next school year. This year, 40 percent to 50 percent of new hires came from out of state, said Javier Melendez, senior director of recruitment and retention services. Other Central Florida counties hire 400 to 1,000 teachers annually -- up to half from other states.

Keeping them is the problem. The most recent state Department of Education figures, released in 2003, show 30 percent of teachers who leave voluntarily every year do so to relocate. And retention rates remain low, with about 41 percent of teachers younger than 30 leaving the profession within five years.

"The real key, at the end of the day, is that sense of being a part of that community that gets people to stay," said Greg White, who oversees recruitment for Osceola schools. "If they don't have that experience where they feel they own a home or build friendships, then they leave."

Recruiters acknowledge that formidable obstacles await many out-of-staters.

Rising prices have put homeownership out of reach for many. At the same time, a lack of affordable rentals in many counties has prompted teachers to live elsewhere and endure lengthy commutes. Unable to rent places, some quit their jobs before they begin.

Kissimmee teacher David Kane, who is in his third year at the school, described the apartment he rents for $725 per month as "low-income housing."

"I wouldn't say it's unsafe, but it's not what I would consider ideal," Kane, 30, said.

"We always get leaflets under the door saying 'Be careful, this or that happened here last night.' . . . I tell people that."

Where teachers are recruited and placed also matters.