Graduating seniors majoring in education had the chance to apply to more than 100 school districts at the NIU/Mid-America Teacher Placement Day Monday.

The education job fair featured about 104 school districts from around the United States offering positions to all emphases in the education major.

Representatives from school districts accepted resumes and distributed applications and information to students in attendance at the job fair which was held in the Duke Ellington Ballroom and Regency Room in the Holmes Student Center. Several of the representatives said they receive between 75 and 100 resumes at the NIU job fair.

Mort Saske, a representative from Riverside County Office of Education in Riverside, Cal., said they are looking for special education majors only. Saske said there are about 25 vacancies in his school district.

The starting annual salary for teaching positions in the Riverside area is $20,500 with a bachelor of arts degree, he said.

“We are looking at people who have enthusiasm, basic education practices and how they did in student teaching,” he said.

Rich Township School District in Park Forest, Ill., has special education positions and a dean’s position available, said John Berryman, a representative from Rich Township School District.

Berryman said they have many applicants and especially accept special education applicants because they are hard to find. The starting pay in the Rich Township School District is $22,000, he said.

“We are looking for good people, either good academically as students or good from recommendations. They must have a teaching personality and be outgoing,” he said.

Some representatives offering positions in the special education field said they recruit graduates from NIU only because the department has an impressive reputation.

Janice Miller, a recruiter from LaGrange Area Special Education, said the schools she represents respect NIU’s special education program.