Gwinnett County has hired 1,891 teachers for the upcoming school year, which starts next month.
Hiring, though, hasn’t been Gwinnett’s challenge. Retaining them has been an issue.
On Tuesday, district leaders welcomed several hundred new teachers to an orientation at Gas South Arena, where administrators made their case that joining Gwinnett was a good decision and why they should stay.
From 2019 through 2022, 13.25% of teachers left the district or moved schools within Gwinnett, compared to 8.9% in Georgia and 10.9% nationally, officials said in a presentation earlier this year, citing federal and state education data.
District leaders hope more of these new educators will stay as Gwinnett’s student enrollment continues to grow.
Credit: Katelyn Myrick
Credit: Katelyn Myrick
Enrollment has been projected to increase by more than 2,000 students for the coming school year, which has caused Gwinnett to open 194 new teaching positions. Gwinnett, the state’s largest school system, had about 182,000 students this spring.
Gwinnett created a teacher retention task force in May as a way for teachers, principals and others to bring up issues that they may be facing.
Issues like an increasingly political classroom.
Tackling topics such as slavery and prejudice has become more difficult for teachers, say educators such as Austin Lewis, 27, who will be teaching seventh grade at Shiloh Middle School.
This is Lewis’ first time teaching in Gwinnett, and he’s worried about how he’ll navigate certain topics in his classroom. Lewis said he wants to “teach truth” but be empathetic to students who may feel offended.
Amid the national debate about what should be taught about such topics in classrooms, diversity and equity were the main focuses of the orientation.
Credit: Katelyn Myrick
Credit: Katelyn Myrick
Superintendent Calvin Watts noted in remarks to the new teachers that Gwinnett is the most diverse school district in the state. Gwinnett’s students come from more than 190 countries and speak nearly 100 languages.
“The diversity is a strength. Diversity is a fact,” said Watts.
School board Chair Tarece Johnson-Morgan echoed a similar message about diversity.
“You must have the courage to teach so that children can see themselves and relate to the stories,” she said.
However, if a teacher was in trouble for teaching something “too divisive,” there are standardized processes in place to deal with those situations, Gwinnett officials said.
Discipline, another hot-button topic, was not discussed during the orientation. Instead, the speakers focused more on student engagement, bolstering equitable practices and changing how teachers view their students.
“Don’t ever confuse teaching with learning,” said keynote speaker John Antonetti, the former director of K-12 curriculum of the Sheridan School District in Arkansas.
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