Thread: American Teachers Being Sideswiped By Foreign, Cheap Labor

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American Teachers Being Sideswiped By Foreign, Cheap Labor
September 23, 2009 07:01 PM EDT (Updated: September 23, 2009 07:05 PM EDT)
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American teachers now being nudged out by foreign competition at lower wages. I first heard about this 2 days ago, on the Lou Dobbs Tonight show. The following information is from there. The director of the district science department of the Birmingham, Alabama school district, Spencer Horn, went to the Philippines on a summer recruiting trip. He claims : "Some qualified teachers would rather work elsewhere". Horn says there is a shortage of math and science teachers nationwide.

On the other hand, Lance Hyche of the, Alabama Education Association says : "There are good, qualified Alabama teachers out there looking for a job and they're willing to come to Birmingham but Birmingham is not willing to look at them."

Here's a report from FAIR, based on a report released last week by the American Federation of Teachers:

New Report Shows Schools Increasingly Hiring Foreign Teachers Over Americans

A report released last week by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) entitled "Importing Educators: Causes and Consequences of International Teacher Recruitment" has revealed that "some American school districts have turned increasingly to overseas recruiting to find teachers" to fill teaching vacancies. The findings in the new report raise questions regarding proper levels of legal immigration and, in particular, the H-1B visa program. (AFT Report; The New York Times, September 15, 2009).

According to the report, nearly 20,000 teachers were working in the United States on temporary visas in 2007, and that number is increasing steadily. The report contains a case study of the Baltimore Public School District and notes that the city had hired 108 teachers from the Philippines in 2005. Just two years later, more than 600 Filipino teachers are now working in Baltimore classrooms, comprising more than 10% of the district's teaching workforce. The report went on to assert that Baltimore school officials were leaning so heavily on these foreign teachers to fill job vacancies in their district that they were recruiting less aggressively in the United States: "Rather than attending job fairs throughout the Mid-Atlantic, trying to persuade reluctant American teachers to accept positions in troubled inner-city schools, HR officials can meet all their hiring needs in one trip. At a single career fair in Manila, they can interview hundreds of pre-screened applicants, each of whom is eager to pay for the opportunity to work in Baltimore city schools." (Id.).

The AFT's findings imply that international teacher recruitment is displacing American teachers. Amid the current economic recession, declining tax revenues have forced many state and local governments to lay off teachers. (The Wall Street Journal, February 3, 2009). Why, then, are school districts across the country increasingly recruiting foreign teachers to come to the United States to fill teaching vacancies? The AFT report suggests a possible answer: in one school district, foreign born teachers were "paid only $18,000 per teacher for their services, well below prevailing wage." (AFT Report).

The AFT report also points out that many foreign teachers are being brought to the United States on H-1B visas. The H-1B visa program allows employers to bring foreign workers to the United States to work in specialty occupations that require "the theoretical and practical application of a body of specialized knowledge and a bachelor's degree or the equivalent in the specific specialty." (Department of Labor). However, some — most notably Bill Gates of Microsoft — have put forth the misconception that the H-1B program exists primarily to bring foreign workers to the United States to work in technology-related fields. Gates has then leveraged this misconception to lobby Congress to increase the H-1B visa cap so that companies such as Microsoft can have access to more cheap foreign labor. (See FAIR's Legislative Update, March 24, 200.

Source : fairus.org, American Federation of Teachers, Lou Dobbs Tonight

Another thing to be OUTRAGED about!!!

Once again...how many of these snot-nosed, whining teachers are driving foreign cars and expecting out-of-work or under-employed blue collar workers to stand up and holler NOW for THEIR right to work? Duh. You reap what you sow, boys and girls.

Now Aiders and Abettors will have no jobs! Finally!

I know many rude and stupid teachers who think they are doctors. And then the teachers on the other end often have their problems, too.

And parents don't you dare have any input into your child education. And when you visit your child school they actually keep a record of you.

GO TO THE SCHOOL BOARD AND LISTEN TO THE BOSSES! VOTE NEW NEW!

Related Post:
Lifting ban on illegal immigrants may profit college
http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-885029-.html#885029

Originally Posted by vmonkey56

Now Aiders and Abettors will have no jobs! Finally!

I know many rude and stupid teachers who think they are doctors. And then the teachers on the other end often have their problems, too.

And parents don't you dare have any input into your child education. And when you visit your child school they actually keep a record of you.

GO TO THE SCHOOL BOARD AND LISTEN TO THE BOSSES! VOTE NEW NEW!

Related Post:
Lifting ban on illegal immigrants may profit college
http://www.alipac.us/ftopicp-885029-.html#885029

I don't feel one doggone bit sorry for 'em! Let 'em do what my friends, family, neighbors and fellow American blue collar workers did when they all started telling us how lousy our workmanship/work ethics were when they started buying from and supporting foreign nations and their workers.

Get jobs that pay less...sure, they'll have to work two jobs like we did, only to make less money than they used to with one job. Let 'em struggle to feed and clothe their kids, hang onto their modest family homes, put their kids through college, buy yet another foreign car. Let 'em watch their cities, towns and neighborhoods go to the dogs because the tax base is gone. Let 'em work 3 and 4 jobs between two people while their kids raise themselves and run the streets because mom and dad have to work so many jobs now, they can't be there to see what they're doing.

They sure as H!LL don't like it now that the shoe is on the other foot...but where were all these "educated, white collar workers" when it was someone else in the barrel? Oh! That's right! They were supporting a foreign worker! lol Good for 'em! I feel NO pity for 'em...none. They thought they were above us and wouldn't be affected. Arrogant pieces of ca ca.

Personally, some years ago, I started doing what my peace-loving, blue collar Ford worker brother does. When I see a foreign car waiting to get out in traffic or make a lane change, I say to myself, "You sit right there until that foreign guy you gave a job to comes by. Maybe he'll let you out."