At least a dozen teachers from Mexico are expected to arrive in Utah this August to help with the state's growing population of English language learners and its teacher shortage.
Human resource representatives from Granite, Davis, Tooele and Salt Lake school districts traveled to Mexico City last week to meet with 50 preselected applicants seeking teaching positions in Utah.
The job placements were created by an agreement forged by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. during his 2005 visit to Mexico.
The arrangement is also intended to develop a better understanding of both countries' educational systems, history and culture while helping Spanish-speaking students in Utah do better in school.
Richard Gomez, coordinator in the state's Office of Educational Equity, said that due to the state's teacher shortage, no Utahn is being deprived of a job. Gomez has been working with all parties involved to recruit the Mexican teachers. "It has been a long time coming," he said.
The agreement, known as the Memorandum of Understanding on Education, was signed last week by the Utah State Office of Education and is scheduled to be signed by Mexican consulate officials in Salt Lake City on Monday before being sent south to Mexico.
Mexican officials were notified last month to begin interviewing interested teachers. But Utah administrators have the final say on which teachers will fill the jobs
At some Granite schools, 30 to 40 percent of the students are Spanish speakers, Fraser said, so having qualified Spanish-speaking teachers will be beneficial.
"The ultimate goal is to make sure we have enough teachers and find teachers who are going to meet the needs of our risk populations," Fraser said.
Fraser also referred to the impact of Utah's teacher shortage, which means some districts started the last school year with substitutes filling teaching positions. "This is not going to solve our teacher shortage but this is going to be one way to work on it," he said.
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