Creative Solutions For Districts Who Struggle To Fill Vacancies In ESL and Bilingual Classes

By Keith Perkins

We’ve all been there: The new school year is about to begin, and the usual buzz of excitement is tempered with trepidation. Once again, you are faced with the harsh reality that you have several vacancies in your Multilingual Learner, Bilingual, and World Language classes, and sadly it is our neediest students who will pay the price. It feels as if you have done everything to address this issue. Universities have been contacted, ads have been placed, and you’ve scoured the internet looking for anyone who may be interested in changing the life of a young child. Despite all of these efforts, however, the department is still several teachers short, and you feel as if you have run out of options. What else can you possibly do?

The Irvington Public Schools currently services nearly 2,400 Multilingual Learners in grades K-12, and another 600 in Pre-K on the way. We, like many districts, face vacancy issues in ESL and World Language that are becoming more and more difficult to fill. This is particularly prevalent at the secondary level. We, like all of you, have pondered a myriad of possibilities to creatively fill these vacancies with qualified candidates to give our students what they so desperately need and deserve: A quality education. It turns out that the answer to our prayers was right in front of us all along.

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Our district has had a position for the past seven years called a Bilingual Teaching Assistant (BTA). The primary function of the BTA is to follow cohorts of L1 students to their content area classes (Science, Social Studies, and Math) at the secondary level and collaborate with the content area teacher to make this highly academic content more comprehensible. They have been invaluable in helping teachers who lack the background knowledge in language acquisition to reach our newcomer and L1 students. They also serve as mentors and role models for our MLs, as most of them are former newcomer ML students.

Qualifications to become a Bilingual Teaching Assistant are similar to that of a substitute teacher. They must have an Associates Degree or the credit equivalent; in addition to this, they must be fluent in one of the most prevalent languages in our district (Spanish and Haitian Creole), and they must have some experience working with a multilingual population. A key element that separates them from a traditional substitute however is the package they receive: A $50,000 starting salary for 10 months and a benefits package that mirrors that of certified teachers (health benefits, and sick and personal days). This is a very attractive package for individuals who have yet to earn their Bachelor’s Degree, and are considering entering the teaching field; they also receive compensation that is considerably better than that of a per-diem substitute. It is worthwhile from a district perspective because it is a non-bargaining position, and thus they do not require TPAF payments; they also do not receive raises at the same rate as certified staff.

Our Bilingual Teaching Assistants have gained valuable experience working with our students, staff, and curriculum. Many of them also have expressed interest in taking the next step to finish their education and enter the teaching field. We have had ESL and World Language vacancies for over a year. However, when we post a Bilingual Teaching Assistant position our inbox is flooded with candidates (Due to the rapid growth in our population, we have gone from two BTAs in 2018 to 22 as of this publication). This success inspired us to give them the opportunity to work with our students independently and assume the role of an ESL or World Language teacher. It provides a much better alternative to a traditional per-diem substitute teacher and gives the BTAs real-world experience in the field they are looking to enter in the near future.

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With the blessing of the Superintendent of Schools, we presented this idea to our BTA staff. We met with all of our BTA staff and proposed our plan to see if any of them would be interested in obtaining their substitute teaching certificate, allowing them to work independently with a class of students. We were extremely pleased to see that nearly all of them were excited to have this opportunity. Following a two-week training process where they observed veteran teachers in the areas where they would be covering and worked closely with district specialists to learn about content and pedagogy, we executed this plan and currently have our last four vacancies filled by Bilingual Teaching Assistants who are on their way to completing their requirements to become certified teachers in the next year or two. Upon completion of their teaching degree, our district will pay the full cost for them to earn their ESL or Bilingual certificate through our partnership with Montclair State University through Title III funds. Teachers who choose to take part in this program sign a contract that they will remain with the district for three years following the completion of the program. Any teachers who separate from the district will be required to provide a prorated reimbursement.

The question I have received most often is where do we find these candidates? I have found that many of our current staff members already know someone who is in this position, and they just need the opportunity, support, and push to take that step in the right direction. This has allowed us to consistently have a robust pool of candidates for our BTA positions. These candidates are often in the community, working in restaurants, department stores, or other local agencies. Sometimes, you just need to start a conversation with one of them to see where they are in life and see if they have ever considered a career in education.

We are excited to share that this year, three of our former Bilingual Teaching Assistants have transitioned over to certified teachers. Additionally, over half of our remaining BTAs are currently in the process of finishing their education to become certified ESL, Bilingual, or World Language teachers. This gives us great hope that our district is in a position to continue addressing some of the staffing challenges we will all face in the future with home-grown candidates. We hope that this program can serve as a model for other districts that are facing similar staffing challenges.

Keith Perkins
Keith Perkins has been the Supervisor of ESL, Bilingual, and World Language programs for The Irvington Public Schools since 2018, working in collaboration with his department director Dr. Pedro Ruiz. His passion for working with ML students and families developed over the course of his 17 year teaching career prior to transitioning into administration. Dr. Perkins loves working with his staff and collaborating with colleagues to ensure that all of the students in Irvington are given the best opportunity to succeed.