MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — Third grade teacher Jessica Urbay walks into Felix A. Williams Elementary ready to set up her classroom to start her 12th year teaching at the school.
The former Teacher of the Year was a student here, her kids are students here. She says it’s passion for the job and the community that keeps her here.
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“We're making really good first impressions and making everyone feel happy to be here,” said Urbay. “I really want to see our community strong, and I believe that the work I do strengthens it.”
She works with new teachers as they enter the Martin County school system. She says while most of them are excited to hit the ground running, the job comes with pressure.
“It's a very hard job,” said Urbay. “And you know, most teachers I know are putting in a lot of extra hours before school, after school, they're coaching, they're doing clubs, they're, you know, going home and making everything extra special, going above and beyond, because of that drive to do great work. And I think that that level of commitment and work, you know, should be compensated.”
Right now, Martin County has the highest pay on the Treasure Coast with a starting salary of $51,000.
But the district also has the highest percentage of teacher vacancies on the Treasure Coast, looking to fill 32 positions or 7% of its staff. That’s a 5% jump from the start of school last year.
Martin County Superintendent Michael Maine says the work to fill those gaps is constant.
“We always have those critical shortage areas, as we call them,” said Maine. “Math is always going to be extremely difficult to fill, particularly at the higher level. Algebra, geometry, specialized biology classes, chemistry, because it's a niche subject area that not everybody can teach or that not everybody's certified to teach.”
Looking at vacancies on the Treasure Coast, Indian River County has a base pay of just under $49,000 with 749 teachers at full staff and eight open current teacher positions.
St. Lucie County starts at just under $51,000, looking to fill 34 positions, just over 1% of their teaching positions.
Okeechobee County starts pay at $51,000 and only have seven, or 1.5% of their teacher positions, to fill.
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Palm Beach County has the highest pay in our area, starting at $53,000, with incentives for teachers with more experience. The district is still looking to fill 190 spots or just over 1%.
Superintendent Mike Burke tells WPTV’s Michael Hoffman this is the lowest vacancy rate since before the pandemic.
“We've been recruiting heavily,” said Burke. “Last week, I got to welcome 800 new teachers at our Teacher Fest event, and so we're starting here in good shape. Where we do have those vacancies, we'll be pulling in people from other professions. Basically, we have instructional coaches or other people that had maybe been a teacher earlier in their career. We may have to combine a few classes, but we're in good shape for the first day of school.”
For teachers like Urbay, it really isn’t about the money. It’s about giving back to the community that gave her so much.
“I think about how much of a difference my teachers made, and the successes that I've had that they played a part in,” said Urbay. “And it's, it's an honor to be that for other kids, and to be a partner for other families, when you know the world can be very hard and tough, and to know that you're, you know, a soft and supportive and helpful part of their lives to me is, is moving.”
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