Utah school bosses hope the World Wide Web can help them snare new teachers.

The State Office of Education, faced with a teacher shortage, is paying about $100,000 a year to online service Teachers-Teachers.com to help it recruit teachers.

Teachers-Teachers.com CEO Brett Spodak likens the site to the monster.com of the teaching world.

“It’s becoming our common portal for national recruitment for teachers,” said Sydnee Dickson, state director of educator quality and licensing. “While up front the total figure may sound ominous … equate that with traveling and setting up a booth (at a job fair in another state). We now have access to 50 different states. So in that manner, I think it’s very cost-effective.”

Teachers and student teachers from around the world put in applications on the Web site, specifying qualifications and where they want to teach.

About 25 percent of schools nationwide are linked to the service, Spodak said.

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