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Schools in need employ teachers from overseas

Poor districts are recruiting
foreign teachers for the same reasons we
recruit farmworkers and day laborers.

By Emily Bazar

A growing number of school districts are hiring
teachers from foreign countries to fill
shortages in math, science and special
education.

The trend is most evident in poor urban and
rural districts, according to educators. Segun
Eubanks, director of teacher quality at the
National Education Association, the USA's
largest teachers union, says many of those
districts have trouble keeping teachers for
reasons including low pay, disruptive students,
and a lack of books and materials.

"American workers are not willing to do the
work for the conditions and pay we offer," he
says. "So we're recruiting them for the same
reasons we recruit farmworkers and day
laborers."

The National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ),
a think tank, says a new teacher is generally
paid $30,000 to $45,000.

The Department of Education does not track
foreign teachers. The American Federation of
Teachers union estimates at least 18,000 of the
nation's 3.7 million teachers were hired
elsewhere.

Kate Walsh, NCTQ president and a member of the
Maryland State Board of Education, says it has
become more common to hire overseas. "All poor
districts have a harder time recruiting," she
says. "Anytime you're teaching poor kids in the
inner city, it's very hard to get teachers to
stay."

Walsh says foreign teachers can enrich
students' education by exposing them to other
cultures. Eubanks agrees but says the USA must
address the underlying shortage by training
more teachers and improving schools.

Foreign teachers must pass state tests and meet
federal requirements. Around the country:

• Prince George's County public schools in
Maryland, with a teaching staff of 10,000, have
556 Filipino teachers and uncounted others from
other countries.

• Los Angeles has 326 foreign teachers out of
33,529.

• Wichita public schools have 43 foreign
teachers, all Filipino, out of 4,000.

• Baltimore public schools have 593 foreign
teachers from Jamaica, India, the Philippines
and elsewhere out of 7,000, says George Duque,
staffing director. "Retention has been
excellent. We've only had 20, max, who have not
been renewed or who have chosen to leave."

Duque says Filipino teachers are a good fit
because English is one of the country's
official languages and its academic system is
similar to the USA's.

He acknowledges that there can be clashes over
teachers' accents and cultural differences.
Filipino teachers, for example, come from a
culture where teachers are revered, he says.
"When they come here, they have to learn about
our culture and the urban culture and the
culture of poverty and the challenges our
children have," he says.

Danilo Danga, 33, is in his fourth year
teaching special education at Baltimore's
Calverton Elementary/Middle School. He taught
English and social studies in the Philippines
for eight years.

At first, he says, students disrupted class and
cursed at him, yelling, "Shut up, Jackie Chan!"
and other taunts.

Colleagues advised him to assert himself and
offer rewards for good behavior. He did. Among
the rewards was Filipino chicken adobo he
cooked himself.

"Each year is becoming better and better," he
says. "I'm excited to come to school every day
despite all the challenges."










— Emily Bazar
USA Today
2008-09-23
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2008-10-22-foreign-teachers_N.htm

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