(WSIL) -- Summer might be in full swing, but local school districts are already preparing for the start of the school year. Right now, there's a need in southern Illinois to hire staff.
There are more than 175 positions available across the state's most southern 14 counties. That's just on the , where many districts post openings.
One of those is the . It's looking for an English teacher, Early Childhood Director, school counselors and several people to fill coaching positions. Most of these are grant funded and will supplement staff already hired.
Superintendent Josh Stafford says while he feels ready for the fall some school districts are feeling the time crunch.
"I have one school district that's reached out that they don't have a college level English teacher," he explains. "So we have a couple of college level English teachers and will be providing English to them via i-TV. We have another school district that's reached out that they're struggling to fill their math positions in their high school, so we anticipate providing math instruction to their students via i-TV."聽
Stafford went on to say having unfilled positions is not a new problem. Over the past five years, there's been anywhere from 1,500 to more than 2,000 unfilled openings in education across the state.
Another place locally looking to fill open positions is . The group provides聽services to schools in Jackson, Union, and Perry counties.
Special Education Administrator Steven Bookstaver says they're looking for teachers and teachers aides who work together as a team in the classroom.听
"There's so many different levels in some of these classrooms that the teacher could be working with one group," he explains. "While the aide, through instruction of the teacher, is working with another group."聽
Bookstaver believes while working in special education can be challenging, there are lots of perks too. Some of those are the gratification of seeing a student grow and succeed, others are more personal.听
"You'll never work a weekend; you'll never work an evening," he adds. "You'll work a school schedule, 180 days a year basically. We also have paid sick time, personal time. It's a real nice job, especially if you have kids in school."
Teachers Aides start at $14 an hour.听If you have a degree, including associates, pay is bumped up to $15 per hour. There's also opportunities for tuition reimbursement, for those who want to stay and advance.
Tri-County Special Education is holding a recruitment event with open interviews on July 25th. It's at their office in Carbondale at 1135 N. Cedar Court from 2 to 6 p.m.
For more information,