A Florida school district plans to hire 140 teachers from South America amid an urgent staffing crisis, according to reports.
The Osceola County School District has contracted with a firm that will identify qualified candidates who can quickly fill desperately needed positions.
“Unfortunately, this is the situation we have, and we have to — and I have to — think outside the box and think creatively,” school board Vice Chairman Julius Melendez said, according to WESH.
Melendez attributed the crunch to a range of problems — including upheaval wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, low salaries and even mass shooting fears.
He said the district is struggling to retain existing veteran educators and recruit new ones.
“If we had a bunch of people tomorrow who said, ‘I want to be a teacher,’ then this contract would be null and void and we wouldn’t need it at all,” he told the outlet.
The candidates will first have to obtain J-1 federal visas after an official screening before being vetted by the Florida Department of Education.
Melendez said the agency will determine if their teaching certifications match up with the district’s needs and standards.
Officials have noted that roughly 60 percent of the district’s roughly 60,000 students are Hispanic.
The plan has run into some local opposition, according to the report.
Objectors argue that the district should not be outsourcing local jobs — especially in the education sector.
Officials have pledged to hire qualified local candidates first.
Other parents welcomed the newcomers.
“Let them come,” parent Caroline Orejuela said. “They are qualified to teach our children, our future.”
School districts across the nation have struggled to fill positions in recent years and teacher surveys reveal growing dissatisfaction with the profession.
A 2021 poll of more than 1,000 New York City educators found that 60 would exit if they could.
