SPAIN EYED AS SOURCE OF TEACHERS; PALMDALE WIDENS SCOPE.Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer PALMDALE - The Palmdale School District The Palmdale School District is a school district that serves a major part of the city of Palmdale, California (USA). The Palmdale School District was first formed in 1888. Approximately 28,000 students are enrolled in the Palmdale School District. may extend its horizons to Spain in its continuing search for qualified bilingual teachers. The district wants to recruit five to 10 Spanish teachers for its biliteracy program through a 14-year-old program organized by the state Department of Education and Spain's Ministry of Education and Culture. ``We are looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. highly educated, qualified bilingual teachers for our biliteracy program and other limited-English-speaking programs,'' said Linda Wagner, principal of Tamarisk tamarisk (tăm`ərĭsk), shrub or small tree of the genus Tamarix, native chiefly to the Mediterranean area and to central Asia. The plants are often heathlike and thrive in arid and coastal regions. School. ``This is one source of qualified candidates.'' More than 3,800 of the district's 20,000 students have limited English-speaking skills - nearly 20 percent. During their Tuesday meeting, board members said they wanted to hear from other districts that have participated in the program before making a decision. Trustee Sheldon Epstein said the Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. has used the program. ``I would like someone from L.A. Unified to come up and talk to us and tell us the advantages and disadvantages, what difficulties were encountered. If a person came over and suddenly left, what is the ultimate obligation on the district?'' Epstein said. ``There are questions that we need to talk about before we start sending people to Europe on recruiting trips.'' Under the district's biliteracy program, half of the students' instruction is in English and half in the pupils' native language. Under the California/Spain Visiting Teacher visiting teacher n. A teacher who visits and instructs sick or disabled children in a public school system. Program, formed in 1986, teachers come to the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. for three-year stints. ``We would tell the Spanish consulate how many teachers we are looking for. . . . They would preselect pre·se·lect tr.v. pre·se·lect·ed, pre·se·lect·ing, pre·se·lects To select beforehand, usually according to a specific criterion. pre the candidates, and we would go over and interview them,'' Wagner said. The program pays expenses for one person from the district on a recruiting trip, Wagner said. The candidates take a prequalifying test and would take the state's Basic Educational Skills Test in California. Wagner said the district has recruited teachers from Mexico and other Latin American countries List of American countries Nations:
Ed Wohlcke, assistant superintendent of personnel, said many teachers from Mexico do not have training in English. School districts that have used the program include Compton, Ontario Montclair, West Contra Costa Unified, Oakland and Lynwood. Wagner said school officials in Compton report being satisfied with the program. ``They are happy with it and continuing to bring quite a few teachers over. They are prescreened and experienced teachers coming from Spain,'' Wagner said. ``We see it as an exciting way to open up to another culture and learn about people from another country.'' |
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