As a public school superintendent, few responsibilities weighed on me more heavily than ensuring every classroom had a qualified, effective teacher—especially on the first day of school. In recent years, persistent shortages in hard-to-staff certification areas have made that responsibility increasingly difficult to meet through traditional hiring alone (Nguyen, 2024). What I learned firsthand is that partnering with a high-quality third-party staffing organization can be a smart, strategic decision—one that improves efficiency, relieves pressure on district teams, and, most importantly, gets students the instruction they deserve as quickly as possible.
This approach is not about outsourcing leadership or diminishing the role of district HR. It is about adding capacity—bringing in another set of experienced, administrative hands that can pick up critical work during peak hiring seasons and allow district leaders to stay focused on instruction, operations, and long-term planning. Our trusted partner handled much of the initial hiring process and then went on to support curriculum alignment, provide coaching, and ensure educators were prepared to meet district expectations from the moment they entered the classroom. In effect, the vendor functioned as an extension of our district team—picking up work during critical periods and improving overall operational efficiency (Sears, 2024).
In my experience, vacancies in world languages, bilingual and dual-language programs, STEM fields, and special education roles often lingered despite best efforts. HR teams worked tirelessly, but the candidate pool for these certifications was limited, and timelines were unforgiving—patterns that are now well documented nationally (Nguyen, 2024). Every unfilled position created ripple effects: principals scrambling for coverage, teachers absorbing additional responsibilities, and students experiencing disruptions to learning.
Partnering with a third-party vendor allowed us to expand our reach beyond local and regional pipelines. These partners actively recruited certified educators at a national—and in some cases international—level, dramatically increasing our ability to fill positions quickly without compromising quality. Research consistently shows that expanding recruitment beyond traditional, local pipelines is one of the most effective strategies for staffing hard-to-fill roles (Evans & Yuan, 2023).
One important lesson that I learned is that many highly qualified educators do not pursue traditional district employment models. Some experienced teachers prefer to work through third-party providers rather than as direct district employees, including those who choose not to participate in a teachers' union or who value flexibility in assignment length, placement type, or professional focus.
This group often includes retired administrators returning to the classroom, career-changers with in-demand certifications, internationally trained educators, and specialists who want to concentrate on instruction rather than employment logistics. By working with a third-party partner, our district gained access to an entirely new pool of capable, motivated educators—candidates who would not have appeared in our standard applicant system but who proved to be strong contributors in our schools (Evans & Yuan, 2023).
Research on teacher recruitment for hard-to-staff schools emphasizes the importance of broadening talent pipelines beyond local and traditional applicant pools, particularly for specialized certifications (Evans & Yuan, 2023). Third-party vendors maintain wider, often national or international, recruiting networks that allow districts to reach candidates who would otherwise remain inaccessible.
Studies examining staffing and outsourcing in public schools show that outsourcing portions of the hiring process—such as screening, credential verification, and placement logistics—can significantly reduce operational strain on district HR teams (Sears, 2024). Thoughtful vendor partnerships allow HR leaders to shift focus from constant posting and processing to retention, onboarding quality, and strategic workforce planning.
Research on outsourced educational services demonstrates that external providers can offer rapid, qualified coverage and specialized support when quality controls are in place (Spittle et al., 2022). Vendors that combine placements with curriculum alignment, coaching, and professional learning supports provide greater instructional continuity than purely transactional staffing arrangements.
Policy analyses caution that short-term staffing solutions should be paired with long-term retention and pipeline development efforts (Learning Policy Institute, 2016). Strategic vendor partnerships are most effective when used as a targeted supplement—buying districts time and stability while internal capacity-building initiatives continue.
The uncertainty, last-minute scrambling, and ongoing frustration of filling hard-to-find positions can overshadow even the most thoughtful instructional planning. Partnering with a trusted third-party vendor offers a meaningful path forward and relief for district leaders who can shift their focus from emergency hiring to instructional leadership, staff development, and student success. By leveraging a strategic partner to address vacancies and provide ongoing instructional support, districts can start 2026 with stability, confidence, and the freedom to focus on what matters most: creating thriving schools where educators are supported, and students can learn without disruption (Learning Policy Institute, 2016).
Kreyco specializes in helping districts fill critical classroom vacancies with high-quality, mission-aligned educators across world languages, bilingual/dual-language programs, STEM initiatives, the humanities, and specialized intervention supports. But Kreyco’s model goes beyond “fill and move on.” They combine placements with targeted teacher coaching, leadership development, and community engagement supports—an approach aligned with research showing that staffing solutions are strongest when paired with instructional and professional learning support (Spittle et al., 2022).
Together, these features address the two biggest imperatives administrators face: getting qualified instruction in front of students quickly and doing so in a way that supports sustainable quality and retention—mirroring research-based recommendations that short-term staffing must be tied to readiness and support structures (Evans & Yuan, 2023; Learning Policy Institute, 2016).
Selected professional references
For administrators who want the research behind these recommendations, here are useful, peer-reviewed, and policy sources:
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