So intense is the need for qualified teachers in some areas that school officials are boasting of their efforts. In 1998, Atlanta officials responded to criticism that they were not trying hard enough to hire Spanish-speaking teachers by sponsoring a recruiting trip to Spain. For school officials, a big hurdle in recruiting internationally is U.S. immigration law. But modifying their visas to allow them to work for the county required lengthy paperwork, including documentation about the district's unsuccessful efforts to recruit U.S. citizens. There are mountains of documentation.
Efforts are under way to ease the process.
Meanwhile, both the Illinois and Georgia departments of education have sponsored programs to help school districts with their recruiting efforts. The firm this year placed 700 teachers from 20 countries in classrooms in seven states. For a fee, VIF conducts the overseas recruiting, initially screens job applicants, and handles the immigration paperwork. Teachers enter the U.S. on a two-year cultural exchange visa. Despite the distances involved, local school officials are insistent that overseas job applicants undergo traditional job interviews.