FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Schools statewide have been feeling the sting of staffing shortages, but one Georgia school system has a possible solution. Fulton County Schools is dedicating roughly $5.2 million to both hiring and retaining special educators.
The school system is providing a series of incentives for Services for Exceptional Children (SEC) teachers and paraprofessionals:
- From full-time teachers to behavior interventionists, the school system is offering hiring incentives that range from $2,000 to $7,500
- For classroom teachers, retention incentives will range from $1,200 to $2,500
- All SEC teachers will be offered additional paid pre-planning days, ranging from $250 to $300 per day--plus $375 in daily supplements for additional summer planning days
To receive a hiring incentive, recipients must be fully employed in a qualifying position on or prior to Sept. 1. Recipients that do not remain employed with Fulton County Schools for two consecutive years will be asked to repay the incentive.
General educators interested in transferring into special education are eligible for the incentive. The hiring incentives will be paid in two installments in September 2022 and May 2023.
In order to be eligible for the school system's retention incentive, recipients must be existing employees of FCS as of May 30 and not new hires. The retention incentives will be paid in two installments to such employees in December 2022 and May 2023.
For more information on the Fulton County Schools incentives, visit fultonschools.org.
