Overseas quest for teachers reduces shortage

Eight hired from Philippines to fill vacancies in area

Tokay High School Principal Erik Sandstrom has returned from an eight-day trip to the Philippines with the names of four fully credentialed teachers willing to work in Lodi and north Stockton schools next year.

Those names were added to the list of five Filipino teachers already hired by the district. Their credentials are in areas that have gone abysmally understaffed for years.

"We'd like to hire people from here, but haven't been successful in doing that recently, said Len Casanega, Lodi Unified's assistant superintendent of personnel.

Without the foreign teachers, the district was looking to fill 33 teaching vacancies next year — a daunting task given a nationwide shortage of qualified teachers.

But now, as early as October, five special education teachers as well as three teachers hired just two weeks ago for math and science, will step foot onto American soil and into Lodi and north Stockton classrooms.

The fourth applicant chosen by Sandstrom accepted another job offer in California, Casanega said Tuesday.

They all speak fluent English, come with full qualifications and years of experience, says Sandstrom, who held screenings in the cities of Manila and Cebu. He was picked to represent the district, which was looking for math and science teachers for grades 7-12.

No sooner had Sandstrom stepped off from a 17-hour plane ride on Feb. 8 when he was ushered to a building with bare walls, a chair and a table. From there, he spent the next five days in two cities looking for as many as six teachers for next year. Some candidates had traveled two days by boat to make it for the interview.

"There were some exceptional, well-qualified candidates there," the principal said.

Sandstrom came away from 42 half-hour screenings with four names he felt confident could handle teaching in America. Of those four names, three would tentatively agree to make the 7,000-mile journey from their native islands to the city of Lodi.

Those three people, along with the five hired earlier, will come from a country that pays an annual salary of between $250 and $350 to Lodi, where they will likely earn at least the base rate pay of $37,000.

Sandstrom said most of those he interviewed had a decade or two of experience and an advanced degree, which could translate to a salary between $51,000 and $75,000.

Despite enormous cash incentives, most Filipino teachers interviewed said they were interested in expanding professionally, an opportunity they are not afforded in their native country.

Meanwhile, the district will continue to recruit at local colleges, including University of the Pacific and California State University, Sacramento this spring to fill the remaining 25 vacancies, Casanega said.

All the travel expenses incurred from the Philippines trip are being paid for by HealthQuest Enterprises, Inc., a Missouri-based recruitment service that matched teachers, nurses and physical therapists with jobs in the United States and Australia.

HealthQuest, soon to be renamed International Resource Link, is in turn paid by applicants, who give $5,000 after they receive a job offer to cover costs and process the paperwork for a H-1B work visa.

To find the best teachers, the district had to consider factors that aren't readily apparent on resumes and transcripts. For example, Sandstrom was asked to determine how well a candidate could speak and give instruction in English as well as their ability to control a class full of American high school students.

"I asked myself, 'Would I feel comfortable putting my kids in that class?'" Sandstrom said, adding that some of his decision was based on instinct.

To help smooth the transition of the new arrivals, the district is already in talks with a local Filipino-American group that has volunteered to help orient the new teachers to life in the States.

Hiring abroad is new to the district, Casanega said, and there is no guarantee that this could become the new standard of practice. But if next year is a success, it might merit more trips abroad in the future.

"We've had some people concerned about this, but we wouldn't do it if we didn't need to," Casanega added.

Contact reporter Sara Cardine at sarac@lodinews.com.

First published: Wednesday, March 1, 2006