MIAMI.- Florida The year began with around 7,000 vacant teaching positions, according to the association that brings together teachers. maestros of the state. Therefore, some public and private educational centers are choosing to hire international teachers to try to fill those positions.
This is how a school in Orlando, in central Florida, among others, reported that it is using international teachers to fill those gapsa way out of the crisis that has also been experienced for some years in other states.
For the third year in a row, Bailes Community Academy, which serves K-8 students with and without disabilities in Orlando, hired 40 international teachers across its eight schools of Central Florida, which represents 5% of its staff.
The sponsorship to obtain visas for each of these teachers ranged between $2,500 and $4,300, according to figures from that academic center. Qualified international teachers receive J-1 visas to work in the US.
Yes ok there are signs that hiring prospects have improved compared to last year In some counties, including Miami-Dade, many districts are still struggling to find enough teachers to teach in their classrooms, especially in hard-to-fill positions.
Lack of teachers
According to the US Department of State, the number of international teachers employed in the country increased by 69% between 2015 and 2021.
That state government portfolio ranked special education as the top subject in which teachers were urgently needed in Florida this year.
The Florida Education Association said that does not expect the teacher shortage to have improved much beyond the 7,000 vacancies from the beginning of the year for its next count in January.
Meanwhile, Florida ranked 48th in the country for average teacher salaries, according to figures released in the second quarter of the year by the National Education Association (NEA).
Some possible reasons for the teacher shortage include limited budgets after the 2007-2008 financial crisis and low enrollment numbers in universities and programs that train teachers.
Data from several states has shown a growing number of teachers leaving the profession in recent years, primarily during and after the COVID pandemic.
In total, there are 4,007,908 teachers in the United States. These January figures include all public and private schools from kindergarten to 12th grade, as well as adult education schools and career or technical schools, according to the organization WeAreTeachers.
