ESS-CUSE ME: Education Solutions Services, a Knoxville, Tenn.-based K-12 staffing provider, has bought Proximity Learning, an Austin, Texas-based company that offers a roster of certified virtual teachers for hire. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
ESS made the purchase to grow its offerings of short-term and long-term substitutes, paraprofessionals and K-12 teachers, according to a statement Tuesday. Founded in 2000, ESS, formerly known as Source4Teachers, claims to serve over 2.5 million students with a pool of 40,000 substitute and permanent employees in 24 states. It has more than 700 district partners.
Founded in 2009, Proximity uses web conferencing to connect remote teachers to classrooms for lessons. The technology allows those teachers attend parent-teacher conferences and participate in district professional development as well. Proximity also offers more than 60 nine-month, self-paced, online courses, each for $40 per student.
Other mergers between staffing firms and edtech companies in recent years include Recruit Holdings and Quipper and Adecco Group and General Assembly.
