Central Washington Schools Look Internationally for Teachers

YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — As Washington continues to face a teacher shortage, some central Washington school districts have turned to other countries to help fill vacancies.

The Yakima Herald-Republic reports that in the past few years the Grandview School District and Wapato School District have been hiring foreigners to meet educator needs in special education, math and English as a second language. Other Yakima Valley schools have also adopted the practice.

Many of the districts in the area have vacancies ranging from nine at Wapato to 24 openings for certified classroom teachers at Yakima.

Grandview and Wapato recruit teachers from the Philippines to the U.S. through Ligaya Avenida, a former San Francisco schools administrator who now runs an agency to help place foreign teachers with U.S. districts.