West Virginia could soon have a statewide database that lists all teacher vacancies in the state’s 55 county school districts.
The Senate on Monday unanimously approved House Bill 4489, which will require all county school districts to post open positions on a statewide job bank.
The bill has bipartisan sponsorship and comes at a time when West Virginia is experiencing a staffing shortage of about 1,000 teachers. Pre-pandemic, that number was closer to 700.
Right now, it’s optional for counties to post their job vacancies to the West Virginia Department of Education’s website. This bill would require county boards of education to share their vacancies so that all job openings can be found in one place.
The bill now heads back to the House of Delegates. If the House approves the Senate’s changes to the bill, it will head to Gov. Jim Justice for a signature.
The state has reported that West Virginia has five areas of critical need: math, science, special education, elementary education and counseling.