ST. LOUIS (AP) — St. Louis schools are trying a new approach to hiring teachers as Missouri districts face a teacher shortage.

St. Louis Public Schools opened a staff recruitment office last year to address issues in the hiring process that district officials say has likely contributed to the large turnover rate, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. It's typical to have 100 or more teaching vacancies during the school year, district officials said.

District officials hope the office helps them be smarter about searching for and selecting teachers. There was previously no set standard for hiri...