Language................

Praxeas · #1 06-13-2007, 03:04 AM

At least a dozen teachers from Mexico are expected to arrive in Utah this August to help with the state's growing population of English language learners and its teacher shortage.

Human resource representatives from Granite, Davis, Tooele and Salt Lake school districts traveled to Mexico City last week to meet with 50 preselected applicants seeking teaching positions in Utah.
The job placements were created by an agreement forged by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. during his 2005 visit to Mexico.

The arrangement is also intended to develop a better understanding of both countries' educational systems, history and culture while helping Spanish-speaking students in Utah do better in school.

Richard Gomez, coordinator in the state's Office of Educational Equity, said that due to the state's teacher shortage, no Utahn is being deprived of a job. Gomez has been working with all parties involved to recruit the Mexican teachers. "It has been a long time coming," he said.

The agreement, known as the Memorandum of Understanding on Education, was signed last week by the Utah State Office of Education and is scheduled to be signed by Mexican consulate officials in Salt Lake City on Monday before being sent south to Mexico.

Mexican officials were notified last month to begin interviewing interested teachers. But Utah administrators have the final say on which teachers will fill the jobs

At some Granite schools, 30 to 40 percent of the students are Spanish speakers, Fraser said, so having qualified Spanish-speaking teachers will be beneficial.

"The ultimate goal is to make sure we have enough teachers and find teachers who are going to meet the needs of our risk populations," Fraser said.

Fraser also referred to the impact of Utah's teacher shortage, which means some districts started the last school year with substitutes filling teaching positions. "This is not going to solve our teacher shortage but this is going to be one way to work on it," he said.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_6111913

#2 06-13-2007, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Praxeas

At least a dozen teachers from Mexico are expected to arrive in Utah this August to help with the state's growing population of English language learners and its teacher shortage.

Human resource representatives from Granite, Davis, Tooele and Salt Lake school districts traveled to Mexico City last week to meet with 50 preselected applicants seeking teaching positions in Utah.
The job placements were created by an agreement forged by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. during his 2005 visit to Mexico.

The arrangement is also intended to develop a better understanding of both countries' educational systems, history and culture while helping Spanish-speaking students in Utah do better in school.

Richard Gomez, coordinator in the state's Office of Educational Equity, said that due to the state's teacher shortage, no Utahn is being deprived of a job. Gomez has been working with all parties involved to recruit the Mexican teachers. "It has been a long time coming," he said.

The agreement, known as the Memorandum of Understanding on Education, was signed last week by the Utah State Office of Education and is scheduled to be signed by Mexican consulate officials in Salt Lake City on Monday before being sent south to Mexico.

Mexican officials were notified last month to begin interviewing interested teachers. But Utah administrators have the final say on which teachers will fill the jobs

At some Granite schools, 30 to 40 percent of the students are Spanish speakers, Fraser said, so having qualified Spanish-speaking teachers will be beneficial.

"The ultimate goal is to make sure we have enough teachers and find teachers who are going to meet the needs of our risk populations," Fraser said.

Fraser also referred to the impact of Utah's teacher shortage, which means some districts started the last school year with substitutes filling teaching positions. "This is not going to solve our teacher shortage but this is going to be one way to work on it," he said.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_6111913

Since when do individual states have the constitutional authority to enter into agreements with foreign countries?

Digging4Truth · #3 06-13-2007, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chan

Since when do individual states have the constitutional authority to enter into agreements with foreign countries?

Not saying I know here bro... just talking off the top of my head.

But the Constitution grants certain well defined rights to the federal government and the rest belong to the states.

Would anything in the constitution prohibit them from doing so?

Just asking... not saying.

My question would be this... Are there to help them to learn english or are they there to give them an education without also making them proficient in english?

#4 06-13-2007, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Digging4Truth

Not saying I know here bro... just talking off the top of my head.

But the Constitution grants certain well defined rights to the federal government and the rest belong to the states.

Would anything in the constitution prohibit them from doing so?

Just asking... not saying.

My question would be this... Are there to help them to learn english or are they there to give them an education without also making them proficient in english?

From Article I, Section 10:

No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

I thought the teachers were supposed to help them learn English but the original post wasn't clear.

Digging4Truth · #5 06-13-2007, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chan

From Article I, Section 10:

No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

Yes sir... there it is...

Just wondering.

Thanks for taking the time to find that.

chaotic_resolve · #6 06-13-2007, 01:42 PM

So we have Mexican national teachers coming to the United States to teach? That's not going to be a problem . . .

#7 06-13-2007, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chaotic_resolve

So we have Mexican national teachers coming to the United States to teach? That's not going to be a problem . . .

I could see it if they were here to teach Spanish language in the sense that many American schools teach various foreign languages as a subject. I could maybe see it if they were here to teach English to Spanish speakers. Of course, there's that whole issue of the Constitution that prohibits individual states from entering into treaties (this amounts to a treaty) with a foreign nation.

Of course, another way for Utah to solve its problem is to encourage various people around the world who are teaching English as a foreign language to teach in Utah.