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Schools look to Puerto Rican teachers to fill ELL needs
Schools look to Puerto Rican teachers to fill ELL needs
Dive Brief:
- Since Puerto Rican teachers don’t need visas to work in the U.S., some districts, like Dallas ISD, are finding success importing them to meet the needs of increasing English language learner populations and teacher shortages, which affect around half of all urban districts.
- Dallas ISD hired 350 teachers from Puerto Rico for 2015-16, primarily to teach elementary-level bilingual classes, District Administration reports, and Oklahoma City Public Schools have also hired dozens of Puerto Rican teachers.
- The National Center for Education Statistics reports that English language learners comprise 9% of the total U.S. student population, and that figure continues to grow.
Dive Insight:
Teacher shortages are a problem beyond just ELL in the United States. In Philadelphia, an estimated 138 vacancies are reportedly already having a negative impact on student learning. And in North Carolina, the teacher turnover rate is now around 15%, the highest percentage in years. Some districts like Nevada’s Clark County are now offeringfinancial incentives including $5,000 hiring bonuses in an attempt to attract and retain educators. The shortages are amulti-faceted problem with no easy solution.
With shifting demographics creating more ELL demand in U.S. classrooms, neither the Puerto Rican teacher solution or trying to bring in dozens of Mexican teachers on H-1B visas, as District Administration reports is also happening in Dallas, is a long-term answer. Schools and districts need to pay attention to census numbers and demographic shifts in order to anticipate their students’ needs. Today, an estimated 4 million American students don’t speak English at home.
The Institute of Education Statistics reports that in the District of Columbia and six states (Alaska, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas), "10% or more of public school students were English language learners, with ELL students constituting 22.8% of public school enrollment in California."
Recommended Reading
District Administration: Puerto Rican teachers ease ELL shortages
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