CHICAGO SCHOOL SYSTEM TO BEGIN RECRUITING FOREIGN TEACHERS

Over four months of negotiations between the INS, the Department of Labor and Chicago city schools have yielded a unique new way of recruiting teachers – looking abroad.  Each year Chicago hires 1,700 teachers, but still has about 400 teaching positions it cannot fill. 

Officials hope that the Global Educators Outreach Program will alleviate the teacher shortage, especially in areas such as math, science and foreign languages.  Two factors converge to make programs such as this increasingly necessary:  growing numbers of children in schools and the tight labor market.  Experts are predicting that within the next ten years, over 2.2 million new teachers will have to be hired in the US, a number that does not include teachers that must be hired to replace current teachers who may leave the profession.

The foreign teachers would use H-1B temporary work visas.  Applicants, who must be fluent in English, will be screened by the school board and consulates.  They must then pass a test given by the Illinois State Board of Education.  The school system has already identified six potential teachers, three of whom may begin teaching in Chicago as early as next month.

An obvious problem with the plan is the potential that the H-1B cap will be reached early and visas will not be available for the teachers.

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