Still reeling from its teacher shortage and retention crisis, Dallas Independent School District (DISD) has been taking its desperate search for educators abroad, hosting recruitment events in Colombia and Mexico.
As previously reported in The Dallas Express, the district has struggled to retain experienced educators, clocking a turnover rate of 13.8% for the 2021–2021 academic year.
More recently, DISD resorted to pulling staff from its central office to help alleviate a shortage of teachers in early October, almost two months into the 2022–2023 school year.
It is in this context that DISD’s human capital management (HCM) team claims it is “searching the world over for the best teachers,” according to a district news release.
The team’s efforts could be working, as per the district’s admission:
“In the past few months alone, over 40 international teachers have come to call Dallas ISD home, and more are soon to follow thanks to HCM’s upcoming recruitment events.”
Apparently, the U.S. State Department and Texas Education Agency have signed off on giving DISD the authority to sponsor migrants through two visa options, the J-1 cultural exchange program, and the more well-known H-1B temporary work permit.
The J-1 visa allows for three to five years of United States residency under conditions of employment with DISD.
Applicants must hold the equivalent of a U.S. bachelor’s degree, teaching accreditation in their home country, and a minimum of two years of teaching experience.
The program guidelines also state, “In addition to your normal teaching responsibilities, an important part of your program will also be to share your culture with your students and the host community.”
The H-1B program, at least for the 2022–2023 academic year, was reserved for aspiring educators looking to work as “elementary bilingual (English/Spanish) teachers.” It allows them to stay in the country for up to six years while working at DISD.
The program calls for applicants without Texas teaching certification to enroll in DISD’s alternative certification program, a mechanism the district uses to place uncertified instructors into classrooms while they complete a one-year, paid “internship,” eventually earning certification, as previously reported in The Dallas Express.
Exclusively issuing H-1B visas to prospective Spanish-speaking elementary school teachers seemed a reasonable response to reports of ESL students who are struggling academically at DISD.
“Other international teachers should consider moving to Dallas ISD because of the diversity they will find in the district,” stated Mexican national and certified DISD teacher Ana Perez Garcia.
“Most importantly, they will get to help a lot of students and their families who come from similar cultures and experiences but also families who are interested in having their child learn a second language and culture,” she said. “The positive impact they will make on their students and families will be something that will give them a great sense of gratification.”
Last weekend, DISD held an international recruitment event at a Hilton Garden Inn in Monterrey, Mexico.
It will also host an upcoming “information session” at a Residence Inn by Marriott in Bogotá, Colombia, where applicants can start the process of becoming a teacher at DISD “despite [their] professional background.” Teaching experience is, of course, “preferred but not required.”
The Dallas Express reached out to DISD and asked how long the district has been hiring foreign nationals to teach, how many foreign nationals were currently instructors of record, and what countries the district has been hiring from.
No response was forthcoming as of publication.
