AUMazing Teacher recruitment event aims to combat state teacher shortage

Auburn University at Montgomery’s College of Education is doing its part to help address the state’s persistent need for qualified teachers. On Monday, April 28, the college will host the AUMazing Teachers recruitment event, where aspiring and established educators can meet and interview with school system personnel from the Montgomery region and other Alabama systems.

The free event is scheduled for 1:30-4 p.m. in the Taylor Center. Attendees must register by Monday, April 21. 

At the end of 2024, the Alabama State Department of Education offered a snapshot of the state’s teacher shortage. Between early elementary education and early childhood education, which includes pre-K programs, there were roughly 800 classrooms with elementary-age children that did not have a fully certified educator in charge of learning.

Other high areas of need for school systems statewide include collaborative special education teaching roles in K-12 and general science educators.

“We need teachers of all kinds all over this state and all over the nation,” AUM College of Education Dean Brooke Burks said in an interview with WSFA-TV. “There is a severe teacher shortage.”

While many AUM teaching interns will seek job opportunities through the upcoming recruitment event, Burks emphasized that it’s open to student teachers from any university as well as established educators seeking new opportunities or individuals curious about the teaching profession.

“It does take a very special person to be a teacher,” Burks said. “Teaching is such a noble profession. A lot of people are retiring out of teaching. We want people to enjoy the profession and really make a difference in children’s lives.”