Thread: Shortage of teachers forces global search

http://www.washtimes.com/metro/20050615 ... -6822r.htm

Shortage of teachers forces global search
By Amy Doolittle
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Published June 16, 2005

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Local school officials say they are looking abroad for educators to deal with a short supply of U.S. teachers and to engage in cultural exchanges with other countries.
Public school officials in Loudoun County -- the fastest-growing county in Virginia -- have hired 55 teachers from 14 different countries, including Costa Rica and Mexico. In Washington County, Md., school officials plan to employ as many as 10 foreign teachers next fall.
Meanwhile, Fairfax County is using educators primarily from Japan as foreign-language and culture-immersion teachers. Prince George's County and the District are hiring teachers from the Philippines, Spain, Nigeria, Turkey and countries in South America to fill shortages in various curriculums, officials said.
The foreign-teaching hires meet a critical need while providing a "cultural-exchange opportunity," said Wayde Byard, spokesman for Loudoun County public schools.
"This is not [foreign workers] taking U.S. teachers' jobs," Mr. Byard said. "Between us and Fairfax [County], we'll take every graduate the 38 accredited education colleges in Virginia produce -- so we recruit worldwide."
Loudoun County currently employs 3,578 teachers and will hire 800 new ones over the summer. Mr. Byard said the hires will cover the teacher-attrition rate and fill 225 positions created for the district's five new schools, which will open in the fall.
Patricia Abernethy, deputy schools superintendent in Washington County, said school officials turned to overseas educators only after failing to recruit enough homegrown teachers.
"We have advertised in newspapers and online, and we are not able to find sufficient teachers for our needs," said Miss Abernethy, whose school system employs about 1,500 teachers a year and has about 100 vacancies. "If we could find teachers in our country, we would do it."
School officials have attributed the teacher shortage to such factors as an aging and retiring teacher population, an inability to retain teachers who are dissatisfied with pay and classroom discipline, and an increasing student enrollment.
In addition, colleges and universities are not producing enough teachers to meet state needs. For example, Maryland public schools needed to hire 5,900 teachers in 2003, when state colleges graduated about 2,300, officials said.
Stepping into the breach is the Visiting International Faculty Program. Based in Chapel Hill, N.C., VIF has provided foreign teachers for 33 school districts in Virginia, including Arlington, Loudoun, Prince William and Spotsylvania counties.
Nationally, VIF has provided U.S. schools with 1,800 teachers from 52 different countries, with Colombia producing the most teachers (237) and Jamaica offering the second most (12.
VIF applicants must be fluent in English, hold a degree equivalent to a U.S. bachelor's degree, be a certified teacher in their home country, have at least three years of teaching experience, pass a background check and have at least two years of driving experience, program spokesman Ned Glasock said.
The foreign teachers are paid on the same salary schedule as their American counterparts. In addition, VIF teachers are given visas that allow them to stay in the country no more than three years. They do not apply for or receive green cards.
Officials in Washington County have reluctantly turned to VIF to fill its teaching vacancies.
"That was the sole purpose -- filling positions that were vacant that we couldn't fill with U.S. teachers. We just didn't have any other choice," said Paul Bailey, president of the Washington County Board of Education.
Importing teachers saves school systems in Social Security payments and benefits, which the VIF provides.
Wayne Ridenour, a member of the Washington County school board and a former teacher, had reservations about hiring VIF teachers.
"I'm afraid that because it is a little cheaper and easier, we're going to have it as a crutch later. I want to bring our own teachers -- bring them, keep them," he said. "I'm very concerned that this will become a crutch."
Founded in 1989, VIF does not currently send U.S. teachers overseas, but has done so in the past.

Brian, we read the same paper....

You all know why, I attend a University and iam not getting my teaching credential because they keep raising the cost and the requirements of getting it. I almost have my BA and now I don’t know what iam going to do other than go work for gov.

Prometheus

I almost have my BA and now I don’t know what iam going to do other than go work for gov.

Now there's a depressing thought! Good luck, Prometheus.

THERE IS NO TEACHER SHORTAGE...

NEVER HAS BEEN...

NEVER WILL BE...

I know, because I'm a former teacher myself...6 years in all.

1. Unions and Districts collude to purposely under-hire to:

- keep salaries high
- retain money for later spending elsewhere by using on a daily basis several substitutes at each school in order to not pay benefits and full salary.

(the second one is a violation of state law...but most get away with it)

2. Postings that are counted for "necessity" surveys used in public campaigns and pleas are phony postings 80+ percent of the time in order to meet a legal requirement while someone moves from one spot to another.

3. If you don't walk the walk and talk the talk or "look right" they do not hire you. All you'll be is a substitute. Some estimates are that there are as many as 10,000 to 15,000 unemployed credentialed teachers in the state of California alone...most are either the wrong skin color or don't speak the right language...even for ESL classes where billingual education IS NOT THE CURRICULUM. Only a CLAD is required.

Worse part is...the credential program and California's university's as a whole seem to have become nothing more than another way for the state to "raise" money via tuition and the like...including cyclical requirements for credential renewal. It's a scam.

One Sup here in San Jose even threatened layoffs and replacement H1-Bs from Mexico and Spain a couple years ago...

Talks about balls...

=

One Sup here in San Jose even threatened layoffs and replacement H1-Bs from Mexico and Spain a couple years ago...

And they say we have a great educational system...all they need is more money, then more money, then more money. I seem to recall in the dim, distant past, when I was in grade school (while the earth was still cooling), that teachers were dedicated, tough, no-nonsense professionals who cared about their students learning. Administrators mostly stayed out of the way, except to administer discipline, which in North Carolina in the 1950's (I hope I didn't scare anyone) meant you got your butt busted with a large, wooden paddle if you got out of line. I don't think it warped any of us too much. We certainly didn't get out of line often!!!

The thing that has changed is society. Parents do not support teachers, neither do administrators. Teachers can't discipline students for fear of being harrassed, fired, or sued. Administrators try to toe the politically correct line for fear of their jobs. The ACLU and the whine lobbies keep schools in fear and turmoil. I have advice (as a non-teacher) for anyone seeking to be a teacher, be prepared to go to a war zone or don't get into teaching.