Schools, teachers now meet on electronic hwy. The state’s newly wired electronic hiring hall for educators has been a magnet for job seekers in education, as well as for school boards seeking to fill vacancies. Since its official launch on June 6, NJHire has registered 2,595 potential teachers who had the opportunity to review and respond to 379 positions advertised. "The response to New Jersey Hire has been nothing short of phenomenal," said state Commissioner of Education David Hespe. "I am very pleased to see that schools and candidates for positions are taking advantage of this no-cost and convenient service." In the first two months since www.NJHire.com went online, more than 287,000 hits have been recorded to the site. Over the same period, there were: • 220,415 successful page views; • 376 résumés posted by users; • 740 job applications submitted online; and • 187 school districts/recruiters registered. In addition, most users of the site (59.38 percent) have been women, and most users (70.29 percent) have accessed the site from their homes. As many as one-third of New Jersey’s 93,000 full-time classroom teachers will be eligible to retire within the next 10 years. Through NJHire, school districts will be able to post vacancies and review online résumés posted by prospective teachers and college graduates. Colleges and universities will be able to provide training and direction to their students currently enrolled in teacher education programs, as well as those interested in pursuing teacher certification through New Jersey’s alternate route to teaching. NJHire was developed in cooperation with the National Center for Education Careers. In 1999, the center made available to states a national database of prospective teachers, known as USTEACH. The prototype for this system was based on CALTEACH, a database developed in California to meet that state’s demand for teachers. NJHire is using the most advanced education and networking technology to provide information and recruitment services for the education community. Its features include no cost to users, ease of use, high level of security, automatic accuracy check and maps to districts, among others. School districts and job applicants for teaching positions are encouraged to take advantage of this free service by visiting www.njhire.com.