Synagogues in Broward and Palm Beach counties, desperately searching for religious school teachers for the fall, are offering a $600 incentive to lure applicants with no educational experience.
The Jewish Federations of Broward and Palm Beach counties are coordinating the recruitment effort, called The Learning Collective, which is in its second year. They are responding to a persistent shortage of synagogue religious school instructors that was aggravated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which educators say spurred many teachers to retire or quit.
The federations will finance the stipends for those who take a six-week online training and are hired by a local congregation. Many schools are likely to employ these would-be teachers: There are about 40 openings at the 19 Reform and Conservative synagogues that are participating in the program.
With the new school year less than a month away, some school leaders are concerned their vacancies may not get filled before children begin filing into classrooms.
“We’ve always had challenges, but after COVID there have been even more challenges,” said Valeria Michanie, Lifelong Learning director at Temple Kol Ami Emanu-El in Plantation. She needs six teachers in almost every grade for her staff of 20 instructors.
One of the reasons it’s difficult to find synagogue school teachers, Michanie said, is the unusual schedule these instructors work. At most Reform and Conservative congregations, children attend religious school after their public school day. Classes are typically twice a week in the afternoon or on Sundays, offering teachers only about four hours of work a week.
Synagogue teachers do not need previous training but should have several important skills, including enthusiasm for Judaism, a willingness to learn classroom management, and patience and love for children, said Judy Levenson, director of development for the Jewish Federation of Broward County.
Educators say pay scales depend on the synagogue but mostly range from $35 to $55 an hour.
“We want to reach out to people who have never considered this work before,” said Robyn Hurvitz, director of teacher development and school services at the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County, which covers communities from Boynton Beach to Jupiter.
She placed 10 teachers in the program last year. One of the instructors was Barbara Greenstein, 73, of Lake Worth Beach, a retired trade show specialist.
Greenstein said she got an email about the program that emphasized no experience was necessary. After several interviews, she was given the option of two congregations and chose Temple Beth Torah in Wellington, where she taught a class of 10 first-graders last year and will return for the coming year.
“We did Bible stories, Sabbath blessings, Hebrew letters and show-and-tell with Jewish history. These kids just needed to be heard,” Greenstein said. “It turned out we grew together as one unit.”
The Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County, which covers Delray Beach, Boca Raton and Highland Beach, is not participating in the collective. But residents of those cities who want to become teachers through this program can work at participating schools in northern Palm Beach County or in Broward.
For more information, go to jewishtlc.org.
