As students returned to school this month to begin a new academic year, some students in Prince George’s County, Maryland noticed their teachers were absent from the classroom. Due to a settlement between the Department of Labor (DOL) and Prince George’s Co. Public School System (PGCPS), hundreds of international teachers who worked for the county have been terminated or are facing unemployment while their immigration status becomes invalid in the U.S.

Over the summer, the Dept. of Labor concluded an investigation into visa and wage violations PGCPS committed against their internationally recruited teachers. The investigation discovered the school system had required international teachers to pay for their own immigration sponsorship and recruitment fees, which violated H1B visa regulations for employers. The DOL ordered PGCPS to repay the teachers’ their back-wages as well as a $100,000 fine for willfully violating the law. However, the DOL also debarred the school system from sponsoring or renewing employee visas for two years, jeopardizing over 1,440 international teachers only two months before the start of the school year.

 These teachers uprooted their lives and careers, emigrating from countries such as the Philippines, Jamaica, and Chile to teach for Prince George’s County Public Schools at the school system’s request.

Since 2003, PGCPS actively recruited foreign teachers in an effort to fulfill standards of the “No Child Left Behind Act.” Schools were struggling to fill qualified teaching positions for critical subject areas such as math, science, ESOL, and special education until they began to hire from abroad, enticing teachers with promises of a green card and a chance at the American Dream.

Just a few years later, those same teachers are facing the predicament of finding employment elsewhere in order to try to earn money to support their families and keep their immigrant status before their current status expires. The visas of over 200 teachers expired this past July and August. Even though the DOL settlement has yet to be finalized and made official, the school system refused to process immigration papers for currently employed international teachers months ago.

With thousands of dollars in legal costs and fees paid to recruiting agencies, most teachers find themselves in an escalating amount of debt. Some borrowed funds from relatives or friends in order to travel to the U.S., and many even sold their properties in their home countries. They all worry not only about the future of their families, but the education of the students they’ve taught. However, despite such dim circumstances, teachers from PGCPS mobilized this summer in order to voice their concerns.

Since mid-July, PGCPS international teachers tirelessly organized themselves to inform as many people as possible about the injustice they faced. A local teachers’ support network in Maryland, Pilipino Educators Network (PEN), has been actively involved in such mobilization efforts in order to help teachers and their families through these struggles and find both legal and moral support. Supporters and teachers consistently rallied in front of the DOL, the DHS, and the White House in Washington, D.C.

 This month, teachers from PEN will be circulating a letter to their parents to seek support from parents of PGCPS in their search for a just and fair action while the settlement is yet to be finalized. In addition, Maryland constituents are currently lobbying Rep. Donna Edward’s office in regard to the issue. Teachers hope to meet with the representatives from the White House Initative on Asian American & Pacific Islanders office in the upcoming weeks as well. In the meantime, public supporters can sign the petition for the PGCPS teachers on the Change.org website at:

 http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-dol-dont-deport-filipino-teachers-after-school-system-failed-them

Keep checking the APAP website for more actions in Washington, D.C. that will support the teachers’ campaign.