Trends in Foreign Teacher Recruitment

The dearth of U.S. educators in some specialty areas — and a shortage of those willing to work in urban schools — is helping to create a growing global market for teachers. NEA's report on trends in foreign teacher recruitment is highlighted below.

Findings
Recommendations
National policies to advocate
Full report (PDF, 32 pgs, 538k) 

Findings

• As many as 10,000 foreign teachers work in public school systems on "nonimmigrant" or cultural exchange visas.

• These temporary employees have been used to address perceived teacher shortages, particularly in math, science, foreign languages, and special education, as well as in "less desirable" poor urban and rural school districts.

• The two temporary work visas used to hire foreign teachers are the "H-1B" Specialty Occupation Program and the "J-1" Exchange Visitor Program. The H-1B is explicitly designed to allow employers to obtain temporary help. The J-1 visa is part of a program that views temporary employment as part of its cultural exchange mission.

• Individual schools, districts, and state education agencies are the largest single type of "importer" of foreign educators. About 6,000 to 7,000 are employed under the H-1B program and an additional 3,000 work under the J-1 program.

• A private firm, Visiting International Faculty, is the largest single sponsor of nonimmigrant teachers.

• Foreign educators hired through temporary nonimmigrant visa programs become employees of the schools or school districts where they work.

• The H-1B program requires that nonimmigrant workers be paid higher or actual wages earned by similar employees, but enforcement of this mandate is lax. J-1 program rules are silent on this issue.

• While nonimmigrant teachers seem to be paid the same as their coworkers, some foreign teachers receive lower pay. Absent a collective bargaining agreement or law or policy, some school districts pay their nonimmigrant employees as new teachers, regardless of their experience and qualifications.

• A troubling dynamic in both the H-1B and J-1 programs is the temporary and legally precarious status of nonimmigrant teachers. They are "at will" employees because their sponsors control their visas. They do not enjoy the protections and due-process rights of "regular" teachers.

Recommendations

Any teacher hired to work in a school district should:

• Be an employee of the school district, not of a third-party sponsor or agency.

• Have the same salary and benefits as teachers with comparable experience and skills (adjusted to conform with visa-specific requirements such as emergency medical transportation to the visa holder's native country).

• Have the same working conditions and protections as other teachers, including full coverage by any collective bargaining agreements.

• Have due-process rights that protect them from arbitrary revocation of their visas.

In March 2002, the New Jersey Legislature adopted "An Act concerning the employment of teachers from foreign countries." Some of its key provisions which are models for other states include:

• Allowing local boards of education to employ teachers from foreign countries in subject areas where the state board of education has determined critical shortage of qualified teachers.

• Requiring local boards to make a good faith effort to employ state-certified teachers — and document the process — before hiring from another country.

• Allowing foreign teachers to become employees of the school district and members of the bargaining unit.

Key provisions of Aurora (Colo.) Education Association/Aurora Board of Education contract covering foreign teachers include:

• A limitation on the board's ability to hire foreign teachers even in situations where critical needs exist.

• A requirement that the board only hire foreign teachers after job openings have been posted and no other applications from domestic applicants are on file.

Another provision says teachers hired by an outside firm may teach in the district as regular employees covered by the "Master Agreement Application" except that:

• The school district will not be required to provide insurance or benefits other than dental coverage. The outside agency provides medical and other insurance as a mandatory part of its program.

• Temporary, nonimmigrant teachers are not covered by contractual provisions that govern teacher transfers, reductions in force, military leave, and elective office leave.

• Grievances brought on behalf of or directly relating to a temporary nonimmigrant teacher will be moot if the teacher leaves employment with the district.

NEA has been urged to advocate the following national policies:

• The Labor Department should aggressively investigate employer claims about the prevailing wages they use to justify pay levels for H-1B employees and it should vigorously enforce the prevailing wage, comparable benefits, and working conditions.

• Employers should be required to prove there is a shortage before receiving permission to employ nonimmigrant workers.

• The Labor Department, Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services, and State Department should share extensive data on nonimmigrant work visa certifications and authorizations, including occupations, locations, sponsoring organizations and employers.

• The Exchange Visitor Program should be returned to its original cultural exchange roots and nonimmigrant teachers should be employed via a reformed, formal, temporary work visa program.