Atlanta-area schools use 'remote' teacher service to tackle shortage
ROCKDALE COUNTY, Ga. - All across Georgia, school districts have struggled to fill teacher vacancies. Now many of them have implemented the opposite of "remote learning." Instead of the students learning from home, they go to school and sit in a classroom. The teacher, though, won't be there-- at least not in person.
Elevate K-12 is essentially a "rent-a-teacher" service. The Chicago-based company provides districts with "remote" teachers who appear in the classroom on a screen. The students learn from that same teacher all year, without having to sit in a Zoom meeting once.
"These classrooms are no different than other classrooms," Rockdale County Schools' Cindy Ball said. "The teacher is the part that is different, but the rest of the class, the support systems, everything else that is in place for students with a teacher who is standing in the classroom is the same."
School data shows the Rockdale County students who have this kind of teacher haven't seen their grades slip and in some cases, they've improved.
Elevate K-12 is essentially a "rent-a-teacher" service. The Chicago-based company provides districts with "remote" teachers who appear in the classroom on a screen. The students learn from that same teacher all year, without having to sit in a Zoom m
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Right now, three Rockdale County schools use the service: Rockdale Career Academy, Edwards Middle and Conyers Middle schools.
Ball says two years ago the district started using a "rent-a-teacher" service called Elevate K-12 to combat the nationwide teacher shortage. This company was appealing because they provide teachers who are certified in Georgia.
"We actually build our own platform. And people ask me, Why don't you just use Zoom or Google? Google's answer is simple: they're not built for kids,"
Elevate K-12's CEO, Shailey Baranwal said from her Chicago office.
She says she knows the importance of education because she grew up in India, in Special Ed-- with a stammer and ADHD. She started the company in 2015, well before the coronavirus pandemic. Baranwal says she has an idea of what's sent so many teachers packing. She says it's not just money.
"They want flexibility of work. My teachers are actually contractors. They choose, they pick their hours, and they tell us before this whole school year, I want to work from 8 to 9, 11 to 12 and 2 to 3 as we get the classes," she said. "Those are the classes that we've assigned to them."
Right now, three Rockdale County schools use the service: Rockdale Career Academy, Edwards Middle and Conyers Middle schools.
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Rockdale school leaders say they encourage parents to consider their child's learning style before enrolling them in an Elevate k-12 class. If it doesn't work out, they can try for a traditional teaching experience the next semester.
The teacher shortage affects districts all across Georgia. Douglas County schools also uses Elevate K-12 and has since 2018. Dougherty county was the first school district in the country to use Elevate k-12. To fill vacancies, DeKalb County schools will go as far as to pay and train you to become a teacher.
With 1500 teachers contracted nationwide, Baranwal says this experience is here to stay.