Their First Apple

Cal State Fullerton hosted a job fair with a difference on Tuesday: Instead of people looking for jobs, the jobs were looking for people.

“I describe myself as a used-car salesman,” said Robert Fraser, director of human resources for Burbank Unified School District. “I tell them to come on over and kick our tires.”

His prospects are college students about to graduate with teaching credentials. In Southern California’s job market, they are much in demand.

“It’s definitely a candidate’s market,” said Charlene Mathe, coordinator of this year’s Teacher Recruitment Fair, which drew about 400 job seekers to the campus. “If that weren’t the case,” she said, “we’d probably have more students here--at least 25% of them are getting contracts before they graduate.”

That trend has been developing for several years, fueled in part by state financial incentives for school districts that reduce the size of classes. It can be seen clearly in the number of district recruiters participating in the annual job fair at Cal State Fullerton, one of the largest suppliers of new teachers in California.

Two years ago, Mathe said, about 55 districts sent representatives. Last year, 66 districts were represented. And this year, she said, tables were set up by 75 school districts ranging from the humongous Los Angeles Unified to the tiny district containing Frazier Mountain High School in Lebec.

Among those districts, Mathe said, were nine that reserved separate rooms in which to conduct job interviews on the spot. “With the crunch,” she said, “when they have a good candidate, they move on it. They want to get a signature on a contract as soon as possible.”

Representatives of Orange County’s Capistrano Unified conducted about 70 interviews to fill at least 100 teaching slots. And the Garden Grove Unified accepted 75 applications for openings projected to number 150 by September.

“We tell them the truth,” Garden Grove recruiter Vicki Braddock said, “that we offer a lot of staff development. That there’s lots of district support so the new teacher doesn’t fail.”

Indeed, with so many districts competing for talent, each has to emphasize its strengths. For many, that means staff development and teacher support as much as benefits and salaries, which typically range from $27,000 to $34,000 for first-year teachers. For smaller districts, the pitch often centers on quality of life.

“We’re in a rural area,” said Dave McGrath, a principal representing the El Tejon Unified School District in Kern County. “We offer a rural lifestyle,” he said, “but you can get to a Dodger game in an hour.”

The prospective teachers, meanwhile, were basking in the attention.

“I’ve got some guy salivating because I teach computer science too,” said Melanie Gibson, 25, whose main subject is mathematics. “I’m doing great. I’m getting lots of applications and have an interview scheduled.”

Donna Schneider, 38, who decided to go into teaching after a career in real estate, said, “It’s refreshing that there’s so much desire for teachers. It’s replaced the old adage that if you can’t do anything [else], you teach.”