PEORIA, Ill. — Peoria Public Schools could be looking into fill a vacancy in a high needs school.
PPS Board President Dan Adler said that if the the search is approved, there would be an offer higher than a teacher’s salary to move and fill the vacancy.
“I’m looking for someone that has enough experience teaching that they’ve had to work through their challenges already, that they can engage and connect with the kids, and that the principals find a good fit for their teaching staff and the broader community that they support,” Adler said.
While they are looking for an exceptional individual for the job, Adler said PPS has many exceptional teachers.
“At the moment, they are distributed in a way that is definitely disproportionately affecting kids that live in poverty,” Adler said.
He said we all have that one teacher in mind who changes our lives.
“That’s what every kid needs, is somebody that inspires them, that gets them hooked on learning,” Adler said. “There’s a lot of different ways that can happen, but I think the more opportunities we give our kids to stumble into that person in life, just the better off we are going to be as a community.”