Teachers only a short-term fix

5/4/07
Give Bridgeport credit for going to great lengths to fill teaching slots. With a shortage of math and science teachers and local recruiting coming up empty, the school system is looking overseas for qualified, available instructors ready to step in.
An agreement with India has opened the door for as many as 15 science and math teachers to come work in the Bridgeport school system. The three-year agreements give the system a little breathing room as it steps up efforts to find a more local solution, but still allows students access to high-quality instructors. Administrators deserve credit for taking advantage of an opportunity.
And the incoming teachers look to be well-qualified. Officials say the candidates all have bachelor’s or master’s degrees and a strong command of their subject matter — as well as strong English skills, a necessity for concerned members of the Bridgeport Board of Education.
Ideally, the city wouldn’t need to travel thousands of miles to fill vacancies. In a perfect world, Bridgeport would have the same quality facilities and offer the same salaries as its richer neighboring towns. But that’s not the case, and the city simply can’t match what teachers can get elsewhere, even in the next town, once they have been in the city system for several years. It’s the reason our lawmakers spend so much time and energy on details of education cost-sharing every two years.
So applaud the school system for going to great lengths to find qualified instructors for its deserving students, but don’t forget the larger problems. Whatever the cause, city students are at a disadvantage to their suburban peers, and the trend shows no sign of reversing. Until we find a solution, stopgap measures will have to get ever more creative.