Scrambling to hire 500 certified teachers by Sept. 4, a hurricane-ravaged school district hopes to find some of them in Pittsburgh.

The Recovery School District of New Orleans yesterday announced that it will debut radio ads in Pittsburgh, Houston and Minneapolis next week as part of a national teacher recruitment effort.

Betty Jean Wolfe, the district's director of human resources, said Pittsburgh and Minneapolis are being targeted because they have teacher surpluses. She said the district is recruiting in Houston because a large number of New Orleans residents relocated there after Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005.

"If anybody in Pittsburgh has a heart for New Orleans, come down and join us," said Ms. Wolfe, who's offering new hires up to $17,300 in relocation, housing and retention incentives, plus credit for service in other school districts, so they can start higher on the district's salary scale.

Base pay for a teacher with a master's degree ranges from $37,300 to $52,900, according to the district's salary scale. By comparison, in 2005-06, the average Allegheny County teacher made about $59,000, without a master's, according to state figures.

Beyond offering teachers a paycheck, the Recovery School District is attempting to tap the nation's affection for New Orleans while offering candidates the experience of a lifetime. Ms. Wolfe said new teachers can help rebuild the city by rebuilding its education system, almost from the ground up.

Paul Vallas recently resigned as Philadelphia school chief to become superintendent of the Recovery School District, but Ms. Wolfe said the recruitment campaign was planned before he was hired. District communications director Siona LaFrance said the district has $400,000 to spend on the six-week effort.

Radio ads already have been launched in New Orleans and Dallas. The district also plans to get out the word through Internet ads; a Web site, www.whyyouteach.org; and public service announcements on television stations in some cities.

Christian Roselund, spokesman for the United Teachers of New Orleans, said the district should concentrate on rehiring 4,000 teachers fired after the hurricane in 2005. District and Louisiana officials said they are reaching out to some of those teachers.

Other states routinely recruit teachers in Pennsylvania, which graduates thousands more than needed here each year, said Deborah Stanley, associate director of Indiana University of Pennsylvania's Career Development Center. While some of those districts offer signing bonuses, she said, New Orleans' incentives sounded especially impressive.

Ms. Wolfe said a teacher surplus, not Pennsylvania's teacher preparation or certification programs, piqued her interest in Pittsburgh. But Laurie Nicholson, dean's associate at IUP's College of Education, said New Orleans would be fortunate to tap Pennsylvania's rigorous training system.

The Recovery School District's name can be misleading; the district was created in 2003 -- before Katrina -- to improve five low-performing New Orleans schools. After the hurricane, another 107 schools were added to the district.

But the district isn't operating anywhere near that number yet, according to information provided by Ms. LaFrance.

In 2006-07, New Orleans operated 27 traditional public schools -- 22 through the Recovery School District and five through the New Orleans Public Schools. The city also had 31 charter schools affiliated with the state or one of the school districts.

As the city rebuilds, enrollment in the 58 schools is expected to increase 6,000, to 33,000, in 2007-08. That's still a fraction of pre-hurricane enrollment.

Nonetheless, Ms. Wolfe said the Recovery School District will reopen a dozen more schools next school year and needs 500 teachers to staff those schools and plug holes in other buildings. She said she also may help charter schools fill faculty vacancies.