By Ann Doss Helms
ahelms@charlotteobserver.com

A week before classes begin, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is seeking 150 teachers, and officials expect hiring and classroom reshuffling to continue into fall.

Almost 150 additional teacher jobs are vacant, but CMS has made offers and the recruits are working their way through the system.

Just two years ago, CMS opened schools with only 17 teacher vacancies. But the last two years have brought a cycle of spring layoffs and summer rehiring as county, state and federal spending slowly gets locked in.

This year could prove especially tricky, as an influx of federal money designed to save teacher jobs arrives sometime this fall. Superintendent Peter Gorman said he and the school board will face a tough choice: use it all to hire right away, or save some for 2011-12 to avoid another round of spring layoffs when federal stimulus money disappears.

"Maybe we look at banking some of those dollars to be sure we can keep the teachers," he said Wednesday.

Mary McCray, president of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators, called on CMS to hire as many teachers as possible right away: "If I'm out of work right now, I want to come back."

Classes start Wednesday in CMS and most other N.C. public schools. Gorman said he'll probably add an unspecified number of teacher jobs after that, which will mean redoing classes and schedules.

About two weeks ago, CMS restored 141 teacher jobs based on a state budget that wasn't as bleak as early projections. That's part of the reason CMS is still recruiting now, Gorman said.

Chief Operating Officer Hugh Hattabaugh said principals are also expected to hire selectively: "The bar has been set high."

And in a district with roughly 9,000 teachers, there's always turnover. Since the layoffs were announced in spring, 412 teachers who kept their jobs have resigned or retired, Hattabaugh said.

It's unclear how many laid-off teachers are still hoping to get jobs in CMS. Only four tenured teachers whose positions were abolished still have not found jobs to match their qualifications, Gorman and Hattabaugh said. Teachers who were laid off because of poor job evaluations or lack of proper licensure are not eligible for rehire.

Some teachers who were hired on short-term contracts for 2009-10 may still be seeking jobs, but Gorman said many have already found work elsewhere.

There's one bright spot in the back-to-school staffing picture: All 1,100 buses have drivers.

When the economy and enrollment were booming, driver shortages added to opening-week delays and confusion. Now that enrollment growth has slowed and CMS is scaling back on busing to save money, the district is going in with a full roster of drivers, Transportation Director Carol Stamper said.
 

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