Fort Worth, Texas schools hiring teachers from overseas

The Fort Worth, Texas is just one of the school districts nationwide that are increasingly looking abroad to fill vacant teaching positions.

Officials in the Fort Worth Independent School District will hire teachers from overseas to replace the large number of educators leaving the classroom.

Fort Worth ISD officials began recruiting international teachers for hard-to-fill jobs last year. This year, they’re ramping up efforts to hire more teachers from outside the United States for subjects like math and science and bilingual and special education, The Star Telegram reported.

U.S. State Department figures show school districts nationwide are increasingly looking abroad to fill vacant teaching positions.

Last year, the largest number of teachers granted J-1 visas to work in the United States came from the Philippines, Jamaica, Spain and Colombia.

U.S. school districts have brought in a growing number of foreign teachers on J-1 visas, which allow teachers to live and work in the U.S. for up to five years, according to U.S. State Department records.

Between 2016 and 2022, the number of J-1 visas granted to teachers coming into the United States more than doubled, climbing from 2,662 in 2016 to 5,774 last year.