We knew we had to do something. Lawmakers in Oklahoma are fighting back this year. Bidding wars like those raging in the south-central United States have become common around the nation especially now, during hiring season as the pool of teachers and administrators shrinks and demand for them grows. To attract talent, districts and states are hiking salaries, adding signing bonuses, and beefing up benefits packages. Some are even forming partnerships with real estate brokers to offer discounts on housing to make jobs more attractive.
District leaders say such practices are a reasonable reaction to a competitive marketplace.
Some who are losing staff members, however, call such strategies unfair. Though districts stop short of recruiting at school buildings, they are targeting teachers and administrators in specific schools through word of mouth and by advertising in local newspapers and on radio stations. The region represented by Mr. Niemann in suburban Washington is losing three of its 15 principals to neighboring, more affluent Montgomery County for the coming school year. We're in the position of becoming a training camp. They love Midwestern teachers with Midwestern values.