LOUISVILLE, Ky. — With more than 300 open teacher positions throughout Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) due to the nationwide shortage, the district plans to recruit teachers from Puerto Rico.
JCPS said special education and math have been the hardest to fill.
In 2017, 20 teachers from Puerto Rico started teaching at JCPS after a recruiting pitch from the district. That same year, JCPS held job fairs in Puerto Rico hoping to attract teachers to move into classrooms in the United States, but the pipeline of recruiting teachers from Puerto Rico to JCPS was shortly paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic's travel restrictions.
“We are excited about reestablishing our recruitment efforts in Puerto Rico," Aimee Green-Webb, JCPS Chief of Human Resources, said.
JCPS human resources staff who are fluent in Spanish will spend the upcoming week in different cities throughout Puerto Rico in efforts to recruit for the district by reestablishing connections, speaking to university students studying in education and interviewing current teachers who are considering moving to Louisville.
“This is a creative way for us to fill some of the teaching vacancies we have in our classrooms,” Green-Webb said. “It’s also a tremendous opportunity for PR teachers to build an exciting career in a great city and a great school district.”
Omar Rodriquez was recruited by JCPS to teach from Puerto Rico in 2017. He has taught at two schools since and has been promoted to academic instructional coach at duPont Manual High School. He also helped start a club for Hispanic speaking students at Manuel and is working to become a school administrator.
"There is a community of about 40 Puerto Rican teachers here who are ready to support anybody that comes from Puerto Rico, because we went through the experience,” Rodriguez said. “We want to make sure that all our knowledge is used to ensure that their transition here is as successful as possible.”
The average teacher salary for a JCPS teacher is $73,600.
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