Districts Look to Mexico to Fill Teacher Shortages

None by KCPW

(KCPW News) Several Utah school districts are going outside U.S. borders to fill their teacher shortages. Representatives from Granite, Davis, Tooele and Salt Lake school districts recently returned from interviewing potential candidates in Mexico:
"This would be a like a recruiting trip out of state that districts frequently make," says Richard Gomez, director of the State office of Education Equity. "But districts frequently come back with not very good results because the competing salaries and other issues that other states offer a little better package for than Utah can."

Gomez says Utah's beginning teacher compensation is very competitive compared to Mexico. About 12 teachers will be hired for the coming school year, arriving on professional visas for one year with the option to renew up to three years. He says they will be paid entry-level salaries and will most likely teach math, science and ESL classes districts struggle to fill.

They must speak fluent English for the job, but their native Spanish skills will be particularly helpful for Hispanic students learning English.

"They're going to be able to communicate with those children in ways to get them motivated a little better," says Gomez. "They may understand their learning styles a little better coming from the same culture and they're role models for these children to show them 'I did it, you can do it too."

The visiting teachers come as a result of a memorandum of understanding between Utah and Mexico established during Governor Huntsman's visit to the country in 2005. Gomez says for years Utah has had similar agreements with China and Spain, but the state's growing Hispanic population makes the new relationship with Mexico important.

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