{"id":308,"date":"2026-01-07T21:25:54","date_gmt":"2026-01-07T22:25:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mssqlguide.com\/?p=308"},"modified":"2026-01-22T09:55:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T09:55:08","slug":"how-this-district-works-to-attract-and-retain-hard-to-find-cte-instructors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.mssqlguide.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/07\/how-this-district-works-to-attract-and-retain-hard-to-find-cte-instructors\/","title":{"rendered":"How This District Works to Attract and Retain Hard-to-Find CTE Instructors"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Omar Mu\u00f1oz trained as a chemical engineer and worked for almost 30 years as an industry executive, most recently in management at Intel Corporation here. Recently, the mid-career professional began to re-evaluate his priorities and consider a new direction.<\/p>\n

His children were nearing high school, and he thought about how he could spend more time with them before they\u2019d graduate. Simultaneously, Intel offered an early retirement option. Then a friend sent him a job posting from the Chandler Unified school district looking for a career and technical education instructor to teach engineering, automation and robotics, and semiconductor manufacturing. He applied, and was hired for this school year as the district\u2019s first instructor for its new CTE program in semiconductor manufacturing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just happened to align, timing wise,\u201d Mu\u00f1oz said.<\/p>\n

The timing proved fortuitous not just for Mu\u00f1oz, but also for the Chandler Unified, a large and growing suburban district outside of Phoenix that needed a CTE instructor with experience in the niche world of semiconductor manufacturing<\/a> to launch its inaugural program.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was like our golden ticket. He was retiring, and he was looking to keep working,\u201d said Lindsay Duran, director of CTE at Chandler Unified. \u201cWhat better place to utilize his knowledge that he brought into the next-generation workforce?\u201d<\/p>\n

These sort of win-win hiring circumstances are rare when recruiting CTE instructors. Over half of all states (28) reported CTE teacher shortages<\/a> to the U.S. Department of Education in the 2023-24 school year. Administrators responding to a national 2024 Brookings Institution<\/a> survey said they had trouble filling CTE positions 57% of the time, compared to 39% of the time when recruiting teachers for academic positions. <\/p>\n

Further, possessing an occupational license or expertise in a \u201chigh-growth\u201d CTE area makes CTE instructors more likely to leave the teaching profession, the Brookings report concluded\u2014often for a return to better pay and fewer hours.<\/p>\n

Duran in Chandler knows these challenges all too well. The district was forced to shutter its certified nursing assistant CTE program at one of its high schools after the teacher, a nurse with industry experience, chose to return to the field for higher pay and a better work-life balance. The district posted the vacant position for several months unsuccessfully and eventually decided to end the program. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to keep them because they\u2019re going to make less money working way more hours,\u201d Duran said.<\/p>\n

But with a recent rise in CTE offerings, driven largely by growing student demand<\/a>, districts need to find ways to recruit and retain qualified professionals to teach these practical, skills-based, hands-on courses. There\u2019s no silver bullet, of course. <\/p>\n

And pay differences between industry and K-12 education jobs will likely remain an obstacle\u2014especially in emerging technology fields like cybersecurity and semiconductor manufacturing, where professionals could make three or four times more in the private sector than in teaching, observed Alisha Hyslop, the chief policy, research, and content officer of the Association for Career and Technical Education.<\/p>\n

Despite these challenges, districts committed to CTE\u2014like Chandler Unified<\/a>, where students can select from among such 21 programs across its six high schools\u2014use a number of strategies to find qualified candidates and support them once they\u2019re hired.<\/p>\n

Support for strong CTE instruction starts at the top<\/h2>\n

Leadership support dictates, to a large extent, the success of district initiatives. Hiring and retaining qualified CTE instructors dovetailed with several goals outlined in Chandler Unified\u2019s most recent strategic plan, such as developing engaging learning environments; integrating real-world learning experiences into the classroom; and establishing industry partnerships that integrate students\u2019 interests and guide them toward successful career pathways.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur superintendent wanted to make sure our students are workforce-ready and knowledgeable,\u201d Duran said.<\/p>\n

For students studying in the district\u2019s marketing CTE pathway and looking for work-related experience, for example, the district might try to connect them with an internship in a marketing firm\u2014providing them with more relevant experience than the typical teenage job at a fast-food chain. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to give them bigger opportunities,\u201d Duran said.<\/p>\n

Local business connections help create these opportunities\u2014not only for student experiences but also for strengthening the CTE programs in general, which can include growing a pipeline of prospective instructors. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re constantly talking to our community partners, whether it\u2019s the chambers or city business partners, and just saying, \u2018Hey, we\u2019re getting ready to do this program, or this position has an opening, do you know anyone?\u2019\u201d Duran said.<\/p>\n

The district also created two positions within the last few years, each of which commits time to growing connections with the local business community.<\/p>\n

Janet Hartkopf, who formerly taught high school cybersecurity courses in Chandler and, earlier in her career, trained professionals in technology, was recently tapped to become the district\u2019s emerging technology coordinator. When the district decided to pursue the new CTE program in semiconductor manufacturing, Hartkopf said she picked up the phone and called 50 local companies connected to the industry. Eventually, representatives from some of these companies became advisers to the program.<\/p>\n

Three years ago, the district hired Tiffany Bellows, a workforce development coordinator who worked for Boeing for 20-plus years before accepting this role, her first in an education setting. Her deep industry knowledge and connections have helped the district grow its own network of community-based business partnerships, making it easier to get the word out to industry professionals about open CTE positions.<\/p>\n

Instructional specialists provide a layer of support for CTE instructors<\/h2>\n

Hiring a qualified industry professional as a CTE teacher is just the first hurdle in ensuring students get adequate instruction. Like Mu\u00f1oz, most don\u2019t have teaching experience. <\/p>\n

While each state\u2019s requirements for teachers vary, Arizona\u2019s department of education provides five ways for these CTE instructors educators to get their teaching license.<\/p>\n

For instance, CTE instructors with a bachelor\u2019s degree in their area of concentration, plus 240 hours of work experience, can receive certification. Hires who come directly from industry and can prove\u2014with a signed form from their former company\u2019s HR department\u2014that they\u2019ve worked 6,000 hours in the field in which they\u2019ll be teaching can qualify to be certified without a bachelor\u2019s degree. <\/p>\n

But these career-switchers still need help learning how to teach students, Duran said. Classroom management and learning how to present often-complicated material are common skills these instructors need to hone.<\/p>\n

The district\u2019s five instructional specialists, each dedicated to a specific CTE cluster, provide that needed support.<\/p>\n

Years ago, Duran served as the lone instructional specialist for all CTE programs before moving into her current role. Like the instructional specialists currently employed by the district, she had a teaching background. But she was stretched thin and thrown into CTE programs she knew nothing about.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told our administration: \u2018We need people that are experts in these fields,\u2019\u201d Duran said. And they listened.<\/p>\n

The district\u2019s current instructional specialists, each of them former teachers with backgrounds in the industry clusters they\u2019re supporting, work closely with CTE instructors for their first three years, then on an as-needed basis after that. They sit in on the class, sometimes co-teach, and otherwise assist with instructors\u2019 needs.<\/p>\n

For Mu\u00f1oz, that extra support included knowing how to motivate and manage a class of high school students.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to manage technicians, but this is different,\u201d he said. \u201cHere, you have to know how to approach behavioral issues. And sometimes, the knowledge and motivation levels with a class really vary.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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