Fridley schools were on course to be short dozens of educators this school year. Without a plan, the district’s special education department was set to be sorely understaffed. And at least one classroom had no permanent teacher.
That’s why new Superintendent Brenda Lewis turned last fall to international recruiting. It’s a strategy that worked to staff schools at her previous district of Grand Forks in North Dakota, a state where the crippling teaching shortages have made headlines over the past few years.
Since last summer, Fridley Public Schools has hired about 20 educators from the Philippines and is bringing several more to the north metro suburb.
Read more from the Star Tribune.
