As North Texas schools continue facing a staff and teacher shortage, districts have turned to more creative ways of attracting workers. According to NBC 5, Fort Worth and other ISDs have begun recruiting from other countries.
Karla Rocha, a former Texas A&M graduate who had returned to her home in Mexico City, told NBC 5 she might move back to Texas to teach at Fort Worth ISD.
“My sister saw they were going to be having some career fairs, and that was great for me since I was in Mexico City,” Rocha said.
Rocha was one of several teachers from Mexico City who were interviewed to work in Fort Worth ISD.
“We, as educators, can bring all our culture, knowing there are fifty thousand Hispanics in the district,” Rocha said. “I know there’s a lot of need for the language.”
According to NBC 5, the large Hispanic population in North Texas means there is a need for bilingual educators.
“We all have accents, and we all have colors, but in the end, we’re all the same. I’m happy to be part of this interview and the school district,” Rocha said. “We’re looking for a big opportunity, and this is the one.”
There are over one hundred open positions in Fort Worth ISD alone due to the staff and teacher shortage. In addition, student test scores have not improved since the start of the pandemic. Fort Worth’s Chief Talent Officer, Raul Peña, told NBC 5 there is a teacher shortage that they have not seen before.
“We have high need, we have forty-one bilingual vacancies at the elementary level, and so that’s a high need, unlike any other year,” Peña said. “We’re thinking, ‘How do we do things differently?’”
In the DeSoto Independent School District, interim superintendent Dr. Larry Lewis is also fighting the teacher shortage.
“We’re also looking at job sharing; in this pandemic, you’re finding a lot of educators may not want to work full time, but they may want to work part-time,” Lewis told NBC 5. “So, we put two highly-qualified certified teachers together they can make one teacher. One can work half time; other can work the other half.”
DeSoto ISD is holding career expos every month until May to attract more teachers. According to the district’s website, they are looking for certified elementary and secondary teachers, in addition to part-time staff, volunteers, and tutors.
“As a district, we want to continue to move our students from good to great to sustainability by ensuring student achievement outcomes are the best they have ever been. We are in the midst of acquiring highly-qualified staff to join our team to keep the momentum going,” Lewis stated on the website.
The district has implemented incentives to draw potential staff and fill their teacher shortage. This includes instructional support, mental health days, and professional support services.
Elexia Robinson-White, the DeSoto ISD recruitment and engagement coordinator, said, “As educators maintain a focus on the development of the whole child, in DeSoto ISD, we aim to support our staff by focusing on the whole human being.”
