There was a shortage of teachers for math and science and this Kansas school district had to hire teachers from the Philippines. Now their visas are expiring. Why is there a shortage of teachers? DP
BY CHRISTINA M. WOODS, The Wichita Eagle
Three years ago, Ed Raymond, the Wichita school district's assistant superintendent of human resources, needed to hire teachers for hard-to-fill math, science and special-education positions.
After searching Kansas and other states, he eventually found English-speaking educators from the Philippines who eagerly accepted those positions, completed the necessary immigration documentation and made educational, cultural and personal adjustments to teach in local classrooms.
Now, the recruitment experiment is winding down. The teachers' three-year visas, which allowed them to work in the United States for the cultural exchange program, expire this year. They all have to return to the Philippines.
Whether they're able to teach again in Wichita largely depends on the principals at their schools, the school district's budget, permission from Filipino authorities to return to Kansas and the teachers' willingness to endure a complicated, lengthy and expensive immigration process.
Tiffany Bettencourt, director of programs with the teachers' sponsoring agency, Amity Institute, plans to travel from San Diego this spring to meet with the teachers and discuss their transition home.
"While it's difficult to say goodbye," Bettencourt said, "we consider Wichita one of our successes."
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