Continued: St. Paul taps surprisingly deep well of teachers

St. Paul's effort to cultivate new teachers for hard-to-fill jobs in math, science, English language and special education appears to be bearing fruit. Bushels and bushels of fruit.

The St. Paul Teaching Fellows program, part of a partnership with the New Teacher Project, has attracted 638 applications -- many online -- since it started last winter. Of those applicants, the St. Paul Public Schools interviewed 205. And the district has offered jobs to 65, said Norah Barrett, St. Paul site manager for the project.

Officials expect to hire 30 to 35 teachers for the coming fall.

"It's been a really fun year," Barrett said of the crop of potential teachers. "It definitely exceeded our expectations."

Like so many districts, St. Paul has struggled to find qualified and interested teachers in several key areas: math and science for grades 7-12, bilingual elementary education, and special education. Even at a time when school districts are cutting budgets and laying off teachers, these areas have proven a difficult sell. Often, it's because private sector jobs in math and science are more lucrative than teaching.

The strength of St. Paul Teaching Fellows, Barrett said, is that it draws people who began careers in those areas -- and made money -- and now want to follow a lifelong interest in teaching.

"For many, teaching is something they have always wanted to do. Now, they are at a point where they want to do it," she said.

Applicants include mid-career professionals, college professors and even a meteorologist. As beginning teachers, they will start at less than $40,000 a year.

"Now the real work begins," Barrett said.

The next step for accepted applicants is to pass vigorous state subject matter tests. Those who pass the exams will be accepted into the program's summer institute. Candidates will teach summer school in the morning and attend classes of their own in the afternoons. In the fall, working under state waivers, they will teach full-time in St. Paul Public Schools classrooms.

Under a just-announced partnership, teaching fellows will attend night school at Hamline University -- at reduced tuition -- over the next two years to become fully certified as Minnesota teachers.

And, then, St. Paul Teaching Fellows starts the application process all over again. The program hopes to pick 250 new teachers for St. Paul during its five-year partnership.

James Walsh • 651-298-1541