Monday, March 28, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Clark County School District recruits teachers in Philippines

A lack of qualified special education and math teachers in the United States has caused the Clark County School District to travel more than 7,000 miles away for recruits.

More than 25 residents of the Philippines have committed to teach in the district and are expected to begin working in August. They will work under temporary visas that expire after three years.

Recruiters spent a week interviewing about 150 candidates early last month. District officials say 30 more teachers from the island nation could be signed as well.

Clark County is the first district in the state to recruit overseas, a practice officials said is necessary to fill the high number of vacancies in the district.

JoAnn Schlekewy, director of licensed personnel in charge of recruiting, said there are about 280 special education openings in the district, the majority of which are specialized positions such as speech pathologist and professional therapist.

"Right now, we're recruiting in 43 states. I don't think we'll be able to fill the voids of our regular teachers, let alone our specialty teachers," Schlekewy said. "That's why we've considered other avenues."

Schlekewy said the need for math teachers is not as urgent, with five openings in the district. But as 11 new schools open this fall, the need is high in both areas.

It cost the district about $7,000 to send three recruiters to the Philippines.

Substitutes have been filling in at schools without permanent math and special education teachers.

District and national officials said the teacher education programs in the Philippines parallel those in the United States, and prospective teachers there can meet No Child Left Behind guidelines calling for teachers to have either bachelor's or master's degrees in their particular disciplines.

Schlekewy said the Filipino teaching candidates were all bilingual and had at least three years of experience. Some held multiple degrees, she said.

Although the candidates possessed impressive credentials, some had to cope with challenging circumstances in their native land, including classroom sizes of up to 60 students, tattered textbooks and chairs fashioned out of rice bags.

"Living in the United States is very much a dream for many people from the Philippines," said Derek Ramage, an official with the Los Angeles Unified School District. "When you do recruit from the Philippines, you can choose from hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of teachers."

Ramage said his district has recruited about 800 foreign-born teachers since the mid-1980s in countries such as Canada, Spain and Mexico, as well as the Philippines.

District and national officials said school districts from states such as New York, Pennsylvania, Florida and Virginia have all recruited in other countries.

But Filipinos who have committed to teach in the county still have many obstacles to surmount before they are placed in district classrooms.

Schlekewy said that all teachers must submit fingerprints and have their transcripts thoroughly analyzed. Other requirements include attending workshops with a focus on classroom management and Nevada's educational curriculum. They must also take a multitude of tests covering general teaching, specialized fields and Nevada's constitution.

Bill Hanlon, director of the state-funded regional professional development program, said the district has had a shortage of math and special education teachers for the past decade.

He said the problem is national and not exclusive to Clark County.

"It's bad news in the sense that we have to go out and recruit," Hanlon said. "But we don't have the teachers here."

Hanlon's program helps teachers in the district meet state academic standards. He said that between 35 percent and 50 percent of teachers leave the profession within the first five years.

One constant complaint among teachers has been low salary. In the past, teachers in the district were able to find cheap housing. But with property values soaring, Hanlon said, the district becomes less attractive to teachers.

John Farley, a physics professor and director of the Center for Mathematics and Science Education at UNLV, said teachers with a bachelor's degree in Clark County typically start out at a salary of about $27,000.

He said the district has discussed adjusting the starting pay for high-demand teachers -- such as those in the special education field -- to a level comparable with teachers who have master's degrees. Starting salaries would then be near $38,000, Farley said.

He acknowledged that even with higher starting salaries, UNLV will still not be able to churn out enough teachers for the district, which requires about 2,000 new teachers a year to keep up with growth.

Schlekewy said the success of the recruiting trip to the Philippines will determine whether the district considers tapping the resources of other countries. She added that Mexico and Spain are being considered as potential destinations to find teachers who are bilingual.

"We're not just limited to the Philippines," she said. "We're still doing some exploring in other countries."