New teachers get fresh starts in Valley Stream

The days of coming out of college with a degree in education and landing a long-term teaching job are over. School districts, faced with rising pension and health insurance costs, the 2 percent tax cap and frustrated taxpayers, are cutting programs and raising class sizes. That means fewer jobs for teachers.

Most new teachers in Valley Stream this year are coming in with at least a few years of experience. And many of them are stepping into positions that are only temporary.

Several districts have cut staff in recent years, meaning there are more experienced teachers to compete with the recent college graduates. Dr. Bill Heidenreich, superintendent of the Valley Stream Central High School District, said it is tough for those fresh out of university with a teaching degree to go up against those with a proven track record of success in the classroom.

“For young people in education,” he said, “the odds of walking out of college and into a position are minimal.”

That doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Stephanie Farkash, who recently graduated from Adelphi University after completing a five-year program that earned her both bachelor’s and master’s degrees, was hired has a part-time Spanish teacher at South High School.

It will be a homecoming for Farkash, who is a South High graduate. She will be teaching seventh and ninth grade students this year. “I’m really looking forward to just getting in the classroom and implementing all the things that I learned,” she said. “I was definitely happy when I got the call to come back to South.”

Farkash said she is excited that she will get to be a colleague of the same teachers that inspired her to follow a path in education.

Sonya Jackson is a new psychologist in District 30, assigned to the Forest Road School. This is her first job in education, and she gained experience in the district by doing observations and working as an intern when she was in college.

“It really is a wonderful district,” Jackson said, citing the diversity, unity and strong communication between school officials and parents.