Post by gatormom on Jun 8, 2008 6:59:15 GMT -5
Districts push hard for bilingual teachers
June 8, 2008
By CIGI ROSS Staff Writer
Bilingual teaching positions are some of the hardest and most competitive spots for school districts to fill.
So administrators in the Fox Valley have been searching far and wide to put teachers with language skills in the classroom.
Carpentersville-based Community Unit School District 300 and Elgin School District U46 both have large numbers of students in bilingual classes -- about 2,000 and 6,500 respectively. Administrators say the pool of applicants for bilingual jobs is too small to meet the demand of Spanish-speaking students in area schools.
"Demand exceeds supply," said John Light, District 300 director of human resources. "It's a pretty competitive market for bilingual teachers. Most people don't have proficient enough language skills to make the grade."
Because recruiting bilingual teachers is so competitive, districts have traveled far and wide to find good candidates.
These trips have included job fairs in Michigan or Texas, where it's possible that 300 school districts will be vying to attract teachers from a pool of 100 applicants.
More than 10 years ago, the Illinois State Board of Education set up a program to help with the deficit of bilingual teachers. District 300 and U46 both participate in the state's Spanish Teacher Exchange Program, a partnership with the ISBE and the Spanish Ministry of Education. The program brings educators from Spain to Illinois to teach in bilingual classrooms. Those teachers receive the same pay and benefits as their American counterparts.
According to the ISBE Web site, for the 2007-08 school year, 59 new teachers from Spain served Illinois schools. School districts in Aurora, Chicago, Schaumburg, Peoria and Rockford, among others, also use the program to recruit Spanish-speaking teachers. The state pays for all or nearly all of the cost for administrators to travel to Spain and interview teachers.
The only problem with the program, Light said, is that in most cases the teachers can only stay for three years without obtaining citizenship. That leaves districts looking for other solutions.
Expanding the search
Lalo Ponce, U46's assistant superintendent of administrative services, said the district advertises throughout the Chicago area, recruits at job fairs and went to Mexico for the first time this year as part of a partnership with the ISBE and the Mexican government. Both U46 and District 300 have set up their own programs to recruit from Puerto Rico.
"It's hard to fill all of our positions," Ponce said. "We do fill them, but after a major effort."
U46 currently employs 330 bilingual teachers and District 300 has 101 teachers in bilingual classrooms, according to district data. In 2007-08, District 300 hired five teachers from Spain and four from Puerto Rico.
Director of Student Services Greg Rabenhorst said less than three percent of the students at Central Community School District 301 are in bilingual classes, so the district doesn't have a tough time finding enough bilingual teachers.
Even after districts get bilingual teachers in the classroom, sometimes it can be tough to keep them there.
Light said districts closer to Chicago tend to pay more, so teachers who want more money are less likely to stay in the Fox Valley. Light said school districts don't usually recruit from other area districts, but it does happen.
Ponce said U46 has a high retention rate for its teachers.
"We have a large (bilingual) program and we have a need for teachers," Ponce said. "Once we get them, we keep them, but finding them and recruiting them is what's difficult."
Districts have to make sure they begin their recruiting process early to get the best candidates. Light said District 300 starts recruiting for hard-to-fill positions as early as January and has already started talking to college juniors about future job opportunities.
"You have to get in there first," Light said.
Homegrown solution
District 300 recently began talking about finding a local solution to the bilingual teacher shortage. The district's human resources committee is looking at a "Grow Your Own" program to recruit future bilingual teachers from current district students.
The district already has had success bringing in its own graduates to teach bilingual classes, like Dundee-Crown High School graduate Juan Suarez, a first-year English as a Second Language teacher at Dundee-Crown; and Yanin Soto, a first- and second-grade bilingual special-education teacher at Perry Elementary School.
"No one else is manufacturing bilingual teachers for us, so we're going to grow our own," Light said.
But the program, still in its inception stages, will take at least three years to build.
The district also partners with a company that helps people who want to teach as a second career earn teaching certificates.
"There are already people in the community with four-year degrees who are bilingual," Light said. "They are very good candidates."
Light hopes local efforts will bring in bilingual teachers who know the communities in the district and want to stay for a while.
"It's an investment in the community," Light said. "We're investing a lot of money in a teacher to get them up to speed. We want a return on that investment."
Courrier News
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/index.html
June 8, 2008
By CIGI ROSS Staff Writer
Bilingual teaching positions are some of the hardest and most competitive spots for school districts to fill.
So administrators in the Fox Valley have been searching far and wide to put teachers with language skills in the classroom.
Carpentersville-based Community Unit School District 300 and Elgin School District U46 both have large numbers of students in bilingual classes -- about 2,000 and 6,500 respectively. Administrators say the pool of applicants for bilingual jobs is too small to meet the demand of Spanish-speaking students in area schools.
"Demand exceeds supply," said John Light, District 300 director of human resources. "It's a pretty competitive market for bilingual teachers. Most people don't have proficient enough language skills to make the grade."
Because recruiting bilingual teachers is so competitive, districts have traveled far and wide to find good candidates.
These trips have included job fairs in Michigan or Texas, where it's possible that 300 school districts will be vying to attract teachers from a pool of 100 applicants.
More than 10 years ago, the Illinois State Board of Education set up a program to help with the deficit of bilingual teachers. District 300 and U46 both participate in the state's Spanish Teacher Exchange Program, a partnership with the ISBE and the Spanish Ministry of Education. The program brings educators from Spain to Illinois to teach in bilingual classrooms. Those teachers receive the same pay and benefits as their American counterparts.
According to the ISBE Web site, for the 2007-08 school year, 59 new teachers from Spain served Illinois schools. School districts in Aurora, Chicago, Schaumburg, Peoria and Rockford, among others, also use the program to recruit Spanish-speaking teachers. The state pays for all or nearly all of the cost for administrators to travel to Spain and interview teachers.
The only problem with the program, Light said, is that in most cases the teachers can only stay for three years without obtaining citizenship. That leaves districts looking for other solutions.
Expanding the search
Lalo Ponce, U46's assistant superintendent of administrative services, said the district advertises throughout the Chicago area, recruits at job fairs and went to Mexico for the first time this year as part of a partnership with the ISBE and the Mexican government. Both U46 and District 300 have set up their own programs to recruit from Puerto Rico.
"It's hard to fill all of our positions," Ponce said. "We do fill them, but after a major effort."
U46 currently employs 330 bilingual teachers and District 300 has 101 teachers in bilingual classrooms, according to district data. In 2007-08, District 300 hired five teachers from Spain and four from Puerto Rico.
Director of Student Services Greg Rabenhorst said less than three percent of the students at Central Community School District 301 are in bilingual classes, so the district doesn't have a tough time finding enough bilingual teachers.
Even after districts get bilingual teachers in the classroom, sometimes it can be tough to keep them there.
Light said districts closer to Chicago tend to pay more, so teachers who want more money are less likely to stay in the Fox Valley. Light said school districts don't usually recruit from other area districts, but it does happen.
Ponce said U46 has a high retention rate for its teachers.
"We have a large (bilingual) program and we have a need for teachers," Ponce said. "Once we get them, we keep them, but finding them and recruiting them is what's difficult."
Districts have to make sure they begin their recruiting process early to get the best candidates. Light said District 300 starts recruiting for hard-to-fill positions as early as January and has already started talking to college juniors about future job opportunities.
"You have to get in there first," Light said.
Homegrown solution
District 300 recently began talking about finding a local solution to the bilingual teacher shortage. The district's human resources committee is looking at a "Grow Your Own" program to recruit future bilingual teachers from current district students.
The district already has had success bringing in its own graduates to teach bilingual classes, like Dundee-Crown High School graduate Juan Suarez, a first-year English as a Second Language teacher at Dundee-Crown; and Yanin Soto, a first- and second-grade bilingual special-education teacher at Perry Elementary School.
"No one else is manufacturing bilingual teachers for us, so we're going to grow our own," Light said.
But the program, still in its inception stages, will take at least three years to build.
The district also partners with a company that helps people who want to teach as a second career earn teaching certificates.
"There are already people in the community with four-year degrees who are bilingual," Light said. "They are very good candidates."
Light hopes local efforts will bring in bilingual teachers who know the communities in the district and want to stay for a while.
"It's an investment in the community," Light said. "We're investing a lot of money in a teacher to get them up to speed. We want a return on that investment."
Courrier News
www.suburbanchicagonews.com/couriernews/index.html