Philadelphia schools look to hire 800 teachers

PHILADELPHIA -- Philadelphia school officials are hoping to hire at least 800 teachers who will be in classrooms by the fall.

The district hopes to have 5,000 applications in order to find the best candidates.

District spokesman Fernando Gallard tells The Philadelphia Inquirer the district wants to prevent problems that occurred last fall when 190 teaching positions were vacant in October and many remain unfilled.

Philadelphia Federation of Teachers president Jerry Jordan says it's a difficult goal because city teachers have not had a raise in four years. Their contract expired in August 2013.

The starting salary for teachers with no experience is $45,360.