Utah is hiring at least a dozen bilingual teachers from Mexico to help Spanish-speaking students who are learning English and also ease the state's teacher shortage.

"We've been working on it for about a year," said Larry Shumway, an assistant state superintendent. "We have [Mexico] as a neighbor and we have lots of students who have connections to Mexico. And it just seems like a good idea."

The teachers will get their assignments when they arrive in August, but none will be assigned to Utah County schools.

Four will be hired in high schools to work in math, physics and chemistry. The others will go to elementary schools and Spanish-English immersion programs, said Mike Fraser, head of human resources at Granite School District.

"This is not going to solve our teacher shortage but this is going to be one way to work on it," he said.

At some Granite schools, as many as 40 percent of students speak Spanish, Fraser said.

He conducted interviews last week in Mexico City and was impressed with the applicants, especially their English.

"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.

Representatives from the Davis, Tooele and Salt Lake school districts also traveled to Mexico.

Mexican officials were involved in screening applicants, but Utah administrators have the final say on who gets hired. The jobs are part of an agreement by Mexico and Gov. Jon Huntsman during his visit there in 2005.

California, Texas and New Mexico also have visiting teachers, Fraser said.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D2.