Filipino teachers leaving in droves to the US

For many Filipino teachers who have given up on their disproportionate salaries in the country, a future in the United States seems to be the best option. Filipino teachers are highly esteemed abroad and are paid up to 10 times their salaries here. Because of the attractive salary rates and other incentives for their families, there has been an increasing number of Filipinos pursuing teaching jobs overseas. In the process, the Philippines is losing many of its better, if not the best, teachers. In an attempt to somehow curb this trend, bills have been filed in Congress seeking to upgrade the salary rates of teachers. However, the proposed rates still pale in comparison with the salary offers overseas. House Bill No. 800 or the “Act Upgrading the Minimum Salary Grade Level of Public School Teachers in the Elementary And Secondary Levels from Grade 10 to 15" is geared towards providing public school teachers a much-needed wage hike. "Our teachers are not accorded due recognition and importance they deserve, their salaries are insultingly low and with the high cost of living today, it is no wonder that the best and brightest among them are now teaching abroad, or worse, have migrated to work as caregivers or domestic helpers," said Caloocan City Rep. Mary Mitzi L. Cajayon, author of HB 800 at the House of Representatives. Cajayon airs the side of the much underpaid yet overworked professionals in the country who, aside from performing their jobs as teachers, would also endanger their lives when being called to serve during local and national elections. "This could be done by giving our public school teachers --who are unappreciated, overworked, and underpaid -- proper incentives, such as increasing their minimum salary grade level from Grade 10 to 15," said Cajayon. A similar bill is introduced at the Senate by Senator Edgardo Angara but with a bigger adjustment of salary rates from Grade 10 to 19. A public school teacher under a Salary Grade 10 receives a gross pay of P9, 939 a month. A Salary Grade 15 teacher gets P12, 546 a month and a Salary Grade 19 teacher is entitled to a monthly salary of P16, 792. “There is a need to upgrade the minimum salary grade level of teachers from Salary Grade 10 to 19, which corresponds to almost P6,000 increase in their monthly basic salaries. With this increase in salaries, more qualified and competent educators will be attracted to teach in public schools," wrote Angara in his bill’s explanatory note. The proposed salary adjustment does not seem adequate to entice emigrating teachers to just stay or come back home. In the United States, for instance, a Filipino teacher in Maryland is offered a starting annual salary of $43,481, making it a much coveted slot for many teachers from the Philippines. Greener pastures in the US In October 2004, Ireneo Abadejos and Julieta Perez were among Prince George’s County School System's “lucky 30" Filipino teachers recruited to Maryland. And what was meant to be an experiment by Maryland officials to fill the big teacher shortage proved to be a success, with 100 more Filipino teachers arriving this month before the opening of classes in September. “We're going to continue to look for teachers in innovative places," said Prince George County’s recruitment officer, Robert Gaskin, who is still searching to fill up the 1,000 vacancies by mid-August. Three years ago, Gaskin selected 30 teachers from the Philippines to come to the US as temporary workers on H-1B visas. The visa allowed the employer to later on sponsor the Filipinos' residency in the country. The 41-year-old Abadejos left his job as a science teacher at Ateneo de Manila University to teach physics at Suitland High School, a part of the Prince George County school system. “We survived. Filipinos are very pliant. As pliant as bamboo," Abadejos said, recalling how a guidance counselor there initially told him that he will be ‘eaten alive’ in the American classroom. Perez, 35 years old, teaches at Oxon Hill Elementary and had to overcome cultural challenges such as the American lingo. Both have acclimatized well with the culture and have moved their families to Maryland. They have to remain with Prince George’s school system for three more years to secure their permanent US residency. In 2005, a critical teacher shortage has forced Baltimore educators to look overseas for help. WBAL-TV 11 News education reporter Tim Tooten reported that almost 60 new teachers from the Philippines arrived in Baltimore in July 2005 to prepare for their first day on the job. The teachers -- most with 10, 15 and 20 years of experience -- believe their new jobs will be worth the challenge and the sacrifice of being away from home, family and friends. Kansas hires 40 Pinoy teachers In Kansas, Maria Santiago was among the 40 Filipino teachers who arrived in the US state to fill teaching vacancies in Math, Science and special education classes. During the summer break, she took her children from the Philippines to live with her in the US. According to Superintendent Winston Brooks, they chose Filipino teachers over other nationalities because most regular teachers in the Philippines are also college professors. Many have applied for overseas jobs to earn better wages and provide well for their families in the Philippines. Alabama waits for arrival of Pinoy mentors School officials in Alabama, meantime, are getting worried over the delayed immigration process for the 14 Filipino teachers who are expected to teach math, science and special-education instructions there, according to an Alabama online news. "We're very disappointed they're not here (yet). On the other hand, it's comforting to know that immigration is working, and these candidates face great scrutiny," said Baldwin County school system spokesman Terry Wilhite. Baldwin is the first school system in Alabama to lure in foreign teachers to the state. It sent two officials to the Philippines to recruit competent teachers. The school system offered jobs for 16 teachers from the Philippines but only 14 of the applicants managed to meet the requirements. The delay of the teacher’s arrival in Alabama was due to the stringent security measures by the US Department of Homeland Security following the 9/11 attacks. Wilhite hoped that the Filipino teachers would get there in time for the opening of classes. later this month. School officials wanted them to arrive earlier so that they would be able to get housing, transportation and become acclimated to Southern culture, with the help of the school officials, before the start of classes. Filipino teachers in Georgia The acceptance of Filipino teachers in the US can also be seen in Georgia where 41 Filipino teachers who will be taking up residence there by the end of August were given boxes of foodstuffs and supplies from the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System that hired them. The Filipino teachers including Ammi Hernandez and Girlie Acasio will help fill the school’s teacher vacancies for the upcoming school year, according to the school’s coordinator of mentor programs, Heather Bilton, a report in Savannah Morning News said. Among the many boxes of materials for the new teachers were toiletries, paper products and nearly everything they would need to start their kitchens - from flour and sugar to canned goods, rice, oil, salt and pepper. Bilton said the three teachers who arrived last week expressed thanks for the donated items, saying they were "very touched by the generosity of the people in Savannah, people who had never met them." Savannah-Chatham County Public School System has at least 49 schools and satellite facilities in the district with over 34, 500 students in pre-kindergarten to Grade 12. It is one of the largest school systems in the state of Georgia. It offers foreign teachers $1,800 signing bonus for a 190-day contract for fully certified Math, Science, Foreign Language and Technology Education or Special Education teacher relocating to Savannah. Under its Alternative Education Program, foreign teachers are given $900 monthly salary plus incentives. Smuggling of teachers to Texas However, not all Filipino teachers leaving for the US and elsewhere become fortunate. In El Paso, Texas, Filipino couple Noel Cedro Tolentino and Angelica Tolentino, and his mother, Florita Tolentino were on trial for about 40 counts of criminal offenses including conspiracy to smuggle aliens, visa fraud and money laundering in connection with the recruitment of teachers from the Philippines. The Tolentinos' placement company, OMNI Consortium, provided teachers for Socorro, Ysleta, Canutillo and El Paso independent school districts with fraudulent visas. The Tolentinos have pleaded not guilty. Government action The human capital theory stipulates that the more and better educated a people, the greater the chances of economic development. However, the exodus of Filipino educators to other countries like the United States, has created a vacuum in the education sector. The best teachers in English, Science and Math are leaving in droves, and many of those remaining in the country are those often ill-trained, if not incompetent. One of the thrusts of Education Secretary Jesli A. Lapus for this year includes the forming of a core staff of Science and Mathematics supervisors and master teachers, train education managers throughout the country, and hone the skills of non-teaching personnel. "Our schools are only as good as our teachers," Lapus said, "and while we do have many good teachers throughout the country, we need to improve the skills of many others, especially those who are non-majors in English, Science and Math." However, without a competitive salary, the best teachers in the country will remain teaching somewhere else. - Mark J. Ubalde, GMANews.TV