Wed., July 14, 2010 2:48pm (EDT)

Georgia Looks Abroad for New Teachers

By Kathleen Quillian

Updated: 3 years ago

ATLANTA  —   Hundreds of teachers are being laid off due to budget cuts next year, yet some school systems want to hire teachers from abroad. The state is looking to certify over 150 international teachers. Rick Hizerman with the Georgia Professional Standard Commission says many of them are needed because of they may have a specialty.

WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT NUMBERS OF TEACHERS ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE PARTS, SO THERE COULD BE A SHORTAGE OF MATH TEACHERS AT THE HIGH SCHOOL AND YOU CANT JUST TAKE NUMBERS OF TEACHERS AND MOVE THEM AROUND

Hizerman says there are at least 30 math and science teachers in the pool of current applicants. Georgia has a continued shortage of math and science teachers. A state plan to attract math and science teachers by paying them more money was scraped this year. The state could not afford the extra cost.