Foreign nationals might help fill the teacher shortage gap in Anne Arundel, school officials said this week.
Last year, around 60 foreign nationals were recruited, including 12 from the Philippines, said Florie Bozzella, the school system?s director of human resources.
“It has been a positive experience in many regards,” she said.
“But there are differences that we have to work through.”
Many foreign teachers simply have different teaching styles, she said.
Anne Arundel recently proposed a policy that governs the employment of foreign nationals, hoping the policy will help create standards for bringing them on board.
“The policy will comply with the law and regulations for hiring foreigners and make sure we offer employment and do recruitment in critical shortage areas like math and science,” she said.
“This [policy] will give us a guideline to best fulfill the needs of the school system and to put a framework in place,” said School Board President Tricia Johnson.
The idea of going abroad for teachers is not new in the area.
The Baltimore City Public School System recently went to the Philippines in search of teachers.
Last year, 170 candidates were selected Going abroad was a more cost-effective method.
But some counties including Howard haven?t had a need to search abroad for teachers, officials said.
“Our policy in place now wouldn?t prohibit the employment of foreign nationals,” said Howard schools spokeswoman Patti Caplan.
“But we just don?t have anything in place to address it specifically.”
Anne Arundel?s policy could go before the School Board for a vote next month. In the next 30 days, the public and board members can comment on the plan and offer suggestions, said schools spokesman Bob Mosier.
