SFUSD Expands Efforts to Recruit Teachers

Unique SFUSD Programs Support Career Growth for Educators

San Francisco (August 2, 2023) - The San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) is monitoring teacher and school administrator staffing trends for the 2023-24 school year. With a significant number of internal candidates filling vacant administrator positions (including principals and assistant principals), SFUSD is also expanding efforts to recruit qualified candidates to fill classroom teaching positions.

“It’s our priority to ensure each classroom can be staffed with a highly-qualified and -trained teacher,” said SFUSD Superintendent Dr. Matt Wayne. “We encourage anyone who wants to inspire the youth of San Francisco to apply at SFUSD and help achieve our vision: All SFUSD students will graduate as independent thinkers with a sense of agency who have attained academic and creative skills to lead productive lives and contribute to our community.”

SFUSD has a new streamlined teacher recruitment process, as well as a new social media campaign to attract potential candidates. By targeting specific geographic areas and using engaging and informative ad content, the district can attract individuals from various backgrounds – from teachers who may be looking for a new school, the more passive job seeker, or those who may not have otherwise considered a career in education. The campaign provides SFUSD with real-time data and insights to optimize candidate reach.

Through the new recruitment process, interested candidates can video record responses to a set of agreed-upon questions as an initial step in the application process and begin to streamline recruitment efforts for the district, as well as provide a personalized candidate experience.

SFUSD actively recruits educators through a variety of means including online job boards on LinkedIn, Indeed, and EdJoin. The district offers webinars for candidates to learn more about openings, as well as in-person interview and hiring events.

SFUSD offers a number of pathways to earn a teaching credential while working in the district. SFUSD’s Pathway to Teaching Program is an intern program designed for participants to work as full-time teachers while earning their credential. In addition, the Para to Teacher program trains classified employees to become teachers in high-need subject areas. SFUSD also recruits through teacher residency programs where candidates can take graduate courses and learn from an experienced educator, then teach full-time the following year.

SFUSD offers bonuses for specific educator roles. Candidates who are hired for Bilingual and Special Education teaching positions receive a $1,000 bonus and candidates who are placed at a High Potential School (an SFUSD school serving historically underserved communities in San Francisco and with lower rates of academic achievement) receive a $2,000 bonus.

Since 2014, SFUSD has increased base teacher salaries by 25% without decreasing benefits. SFUSD has numerous efforts in place to support and retain educators such as through paid professional development, offering one-on-one coaching and capacity building for new teachers, and more. 

Similar to school districts around the state and country, SFUSD is experiencing employee shortages in most roles. To date, SFUSD has filled about 76% of 603 classroom vacancies. For the 2022-2023 school year, the district filled 464 classroom vacancies and for the 2021-2022 school year, SFUSD filled about 350 classroom vacancies. SFUSD has an annual school leadership turnover rate between 25-30%.

To apply for a teaching position, candidates must have a Bachelors’ degree. Teaching credentials are not needed for the initial application process. 

To learn more about and apply for open positions, interested candidates can visit careers.sfusd.edu. 

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