HISD targets Raleigh, North Carolina to find teachers

RALEIGH, NC (KTRK) -- The Houston school district is looking very attractive to some teachers in North Carolina.

Hundreds turned out for an HISD-sponsored job fair in Raleigh. The reason for the impressive turnout? Money.

HISD took out a newspaper ad, citing starting salaries for teachers here at nearly $47,000, well above the average of $39,000 for teachers in North Carolina.

"And they're offering an average pay that is higher for a beginning teacher than our average pay is for teachers who've had 10 or 20 years in the classroom," said teachers advocate Yevonne Brannon.

"There were four people from my school, and I was amazed," said Cumberland County teacher Renu Khanna. "There was a teacher of the year from that same school. He was a teacher of the year, but he was ready to take this challenge."

HISD must first sift through hundreds of applications before letting anyone know about possible employment in a Houston classroom.