JACKSON - Representatives from a Michigan school district are making stops in Mississippi and other southeastern states, hoping to lure prospective teachers with promises of high salaries.
Some Mississippi students appear willing to relocate across country to the Mount Clemens Community Schools district, where a salary of $32,960 is being offered to first-year teachers with no experience. A teacher with 10 years of experience is being offered $53,026.
The average salary for a teacher in Mississippi is about $32,400, said state Superintendent Richard Thompson. He said it's difficult to put up an argument for a recent graduate not to take a teaching job offering a salary as high as that offered by the Michigan district.
"We have to remind them the cost of living is also high," Thompson said. "It's tough though."
Cedric Johnson, a coach and instructor at Terry High School, is considering an offer from the district. Johnson has been teaching for five years, and currently makes just under $30,000. He said he was informed he could make as much as $45,000 a year in the Michigan system.
"Sure, the pay is a big eye catcher compared to what we get here in the state of Mississippi," Johnson said.
Mount Clemens Superintendent T.C. Wallace said Tuesday that dozens of college students had interviewed during visits to Jackson State University, Alcorn State University and Tougaloo College. Other universities on the recruitment tour include Southern University and Grambling State University, both in Louisiana.
Wallace said he's targeting historically black universities, citing a need for diversity in his Michigan district.
"There's an extreme shortage of males regardless of ethnicity," Wallace said. "Beyond that, there's a shortage of minority teachers.
"Our population of minority teachers should reflect the community. In Mount Clemens, we have about 40 percent minority students. Our teacher population is significantly below that," he said.
Some Mississippi officials said Tuesday the recruitment effort is another indication of the need to raise teacher salaries to retain instructors in the state.
Rep. Joe Wallace, D-Mount Olive, chairman of the House Education Committee, said Mississippi is trying to be competitive. In 2000, legislators passed a plan to raise teachers' pay to the projected Southeastern average by the 2005-2006 school year.
"We don't have the tax base that we need and type jobs that we need to generate the type money that we have to," Warren said. "Nobody is more frustrated about that than I am."
Thompson said the state's teachers are leaving the profession, but pay isn't the only reason. He said teachers are concerned about a lack of support from their superiors and parents, as well as student discipline.
"In Mississippi, we're also trying to address those issues," Thompson said.
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