Petition asks district to sponsor visas for immersion teachers

Petition asks district to sponsor visas for immersion teachers

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WEST JORDAN — A group of parents in the Jordan School District like their children's language immersion teachers so much, they've launched a petition to keep them from leaving when their guest worker visas expire.

By Wednesday afternoon, more than 150 people had signed the petition, which asks the Jordan Board of Education to explore the possibility of sponsoring an alternative visa to allow guest teachers to continue working in the district.

"We had one that was awesome that went to St. George, and we have another one right now that is awesome that we would love to keep, if possible," Jolynne Alger said.

Alger, a member of the Eastlake Elementary School Community Council and sponsor of the petition, said the revolving door of language teachers is not optimal for education. Many excellent teachers with experience in the district have been forced to find work in other parts of the state in order to maintain their legal residency, she said.

Not only is the loss of a teacher disruptive, Alger said, but schools also have to train new educators and locate candidates to fill vacated positions.

"We’ve had a couple of teachers that have wanted to stay in the district that weren’t able to once their initial three-year visas expired," she said. "Getting qualified, experienced, good teachers in the target languages that have teaching experience and are native speakers can be tricky."

Utah has received accolades for the success of dual immersion learning, in which elementary and junior high students spend as much as half the school day studying and communicating exclusively in a non-native language.


Getting qualified, experienced, good teachers in the target languages that have teaching experience and are native speakers can be tricky.

–Jolynne Alger


The number of schools offering dual immersion grows each year, with programs now including Spanish, Portuguese, French, Mandarin and German.

Alger said the petition is not meant to be seen as an aggressive demand levied against the district. She said it allows parents to add their name to a formal request that the school board study the issue, rather than attend a board meeting en masse and spend time repeating each other's comments.

"We’re not immigration experts, obviously. We don’t know what the costs and liabilities are and the extent of things that go into it," she said. "It’s not anything controversial or big, it’s just we want them to explore the possibility. Can we do it or can we not?"

The petition launched on Tuesday and Alger said she had discussed the issue with individual board members but had not yet heard a specific response regarding the petition.

She said she intends to present the petition at an upcoming board meeting and acknowledged that the costs and challenges of securing new visas could outweigh the advantages to the district.

"I’m not trying to make demands on anyone; I’m not rallying," she said. "I’m just saying let’s explore this possibility and maybe there’s really good reasons why it’s not a good choice for our district."

What's next?
The Jordan School Board's next meeting is Aug. 26.

Jordan School District spokesman Steve Dunham said guest teachers currently work under the authorization of a standard visa, which typically establishes a two- or three-year period of employment.

He said that until now the district has not been involved in sponsoring visas for teachers, and he was not sure what precedent for doing so exists in the state, but it is an issue that officials will look into.

"Jordan School District values its dual immersion program and the teachers who help our students learn and this is a proposal we’re willing to consider," he said.

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Benjamin Wood

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