Clark County School District is implementing a new initiative to fill special education teaching positions in the Las Vegas valley.
CCSD has hired dozens of teachers from the Philippines to staff the open positions. There's a reported teacher shortage in the special education division, not only with CCSD, but nationally.
CCSD welcomes new teachers from the Philippines. #CCSDAchieves pic.twitter.com/nuhhAwflIS
— CCSD (@ClarkCountySch) July 11, 2017
According to district officials, they did push recruitment locally and nationally, hitting colleges and job fairs, and blasting social media. However, it just wasn't enough.
"The reality is, there just isn't enough teachers, specifically special education teachers," says Michael Gentry, the chief recruitment officer with CCSD.
That is why the school district felt the need to look overseas for help filling the spots.
The new teachers all speak English, they all have work visas, they all have college degrees, and they all have experience with special needs kids.
72 new teachers will be welcomed to the district for the beginning of the new school year and few feel that the influx of new teachers into Las Vegas will stop.
In the Philippines, these teachers made about $5,000 a year, but here, they'll make 8 times that amount, at about $40,000 a year.
"It's a life changing event, both for the teacher and for their families," says Gentry. "They tend to send a lot of their money back to their families in the Philippines."
