By Rich Bockmann
Teachers in Queens public schools may not overwhelming choose to live in the borough, but they would be well-advised to study here.
A pair of recent reports show that while the majority of Queens teachers live elsewhere, two of the borough’s education schools rank highest when it comes to sending qualified teachers to the city Department of Education.
About 48 percent of Queens’ 18,252 teachers live in the borough, according to an analysis by the Independent Budget Office. That puts Queens in-between Staten Island in Brooklyn — where the majority of teachers choose to live where they work — and the Bronx and Manhattan, which have the lowest percentages of resident teachers.
Queens did stand out when it comes to the number of teachers who live outside the city. Probably due to its proximity to Nassau County, the borough had about 46 percent of its teachers live outside the five boroughs.
Another report by the DOE ranking the 12 education programs that sent the most educators to the department showed that Queens College and St. John’s University educated the most highly rated teachers who are more likely to be on the job in three years’ time.
The department’s first Teacher Preparation Program Reports measured the dozen education schools that sent 51.6 percent of the more than 10,000 traditional teachers to the department between 2008 and 2012.
St. John’s led the pack with 91 percent of graduates rated either effective or highly effective on their 2012-13 state growth scores and 94 percent of grads retained by the DOE after three years.
Queens College was right behind its neighbor with 92 percent of grads on the job after three years, and ranked third when it came to well-rated teachers, with 89 percent receiving high growth ratings.
Graduates from the two schools were not necessarily flocking to the highest-need programs, though.
Only 16 percent of Queens College grads — the lowest among the 12 programs — were going on to get jobs at high-need schools such as transfer schools and District 75 special education schools.
At St. John’s the number was 22 percent, tied for third-lowest among the dozen schools.
Reach reporter Rich Bockmann by e-mail at rbockmann@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
