Exodus of Filipino teachers to US seen

Filipino teachers may soon outnumber Filipino medical workers in the United States with the exodus of Filipino educators expected to heighten this year.

Former labor attaché to the United States Helen Custodio said that while the US government has restricted the quota for foreign nurses, it is planning to hire 2.2 million foreign teachers in the next 10 years to address the shortage of educators in both public and private schools.

The US government, she said, is preparing to hire more foreign teachers, including Filipinos, despite the implementation of stricter immigration laws.

"Since the 9-11 terrorist attacks, the US government has been very selective in giving immigrant visas but it is willing to give even temporary visas so foreign teachers could be hired," Custodio said.

She said foreign workers can use the temporary visa for three years and extend it for another three years for a total of six years working contract in the United States.

"Some of the states are already doing away with the licensure examination so they could immediately fill in the need for teachers while others are hiring substitute teachers, who may also be hired as regular teachers after passing the licensure examination," she added.

Custodio explained that 65 percent of the teachers in the United States are already eligible for retirement in the next five years, thus the immediate need to hire more foreign teachers.

She added that many Americans consider teaching as a low paying job and risky because schools are located in inner cities.

The Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO) in Washington has identified six states with severe shortage of teachers — Maryland, California, Nebraska, Texas, Kentucky and Massachusetts.

Custodio said that particularly in demand are science, math and special education teachers as well as school superintendents and principals.

The Philippine government is now working on forging a memorandum of understanding with the US government so that more Filipino teachers will be recruited to work there.

In the first eight months of 2002, the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) recorded a 9.6 percent drop in the number of Filipino workers deployed to the United States.

POEA attributed the decline to the imposition of stricter immigration rules that made it difficult for overseas Filipino workers to find employment there.

However, Custodio said the Philippines can expect to recover from the slump with the government’s ongoing marketing efforts.

"With the intensified marketing mission, we could get the bigger slice of the market for our workers," she said.