The Rochester City School District is already looking for eligible teaching candidates for the 2017-2018 school year.
According to Human Capital Initiatives senior director Anne Brady, the district is recruiting new teachers earlier than ever before.
"It has been a challenge for large urban districts outside of New York City to attract teachers, and so we're trying to get out there ahead of time. We are struggling, as is the whole country. I believe overall we've seen the number of teacher candidates reduced, and everyone is fighting for the same people," she said.
Brady notes the district is reaching out to teaching candidates in the African-American and Hispanic communities to address the district's diversity gap.
"On top of that we have our normal recruitment procedures where we do reach out to historically black colleges and universities as well as in our area to try to attract any diverse candidates to the Rochester market," she said.
This weekend at a teacher recruitment event at the district's Central Office, candidates that have completed an online application can present their resume and a lesson plan that showcases their skills and desires to be an urban teaching professional.