Cobb County's largest employer is looking for people with science backgrounds to help fill the rising need for science instructors.
The need is so great that the Cobb County School District, which has more than 15,000 employees, is reaching out to those with backgrounds in science who are not certified teachers.
Among those who have expressed interest in teaching in the second largest of the state's nearly 200 school districts are a veterinarian and retired engineers, said the district's Chief Human Resources Officer John Adams during the April 13 meeting of the Cobb County Board of Education.
Applicants must pass the Georgia Assessments for the Certification of Educators (GACE) in their subject area and be hired by the principal, Adams said.
Science teachers are increasingly difficult to find. Only two or three Advanced Placement (AP) physics teachers have been produced this year in Georgia, Adams said.
"So we have to look for people from outside the state, or we may have to look for people from nontraditional backgrounds," he said.
"I've talked to a number of retired engineers from just down the street who want to teach," Adams added.
Adams said there is more competition among Georgia school districts -- not to mention private schools -- for science teachers at all grade levels, because the state's school districts all offer the same health and retirement benefits through the statewide system.
Cobb County Board of Education member Scott Sweeney noted that school districts are losing teachers to the private sector as the economy improves.
Adams said the top-paying science jobs for undergraduates in the fields of petroleum engineering and geology are "taking away from science teachers."
However, "the beakers don't smile back at you and say you've changed their life or mention you in their baccalaureate address," Adams said.
For more information about open positions, visit here.
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