Anonymous wrote:Why Philippines and not other countries?

1) Many middle class Filipinos already speak English and are somewhat familiar with American culture.

2) Filipinos have a long history of working abroad and sending remittances home. They understand they will be homesick, miss children’s milestones, and lose parents while away.

3) They actually have a good education system there. Two of my kids had Filipino immigrant teachers for advanced math classes. They were amazing.

"The cohort of 42 educators, assigned to schools throughout the district, is part of a cultural exchange program that allows J-1 visa holders to teach in the U.S.

In partnership with Foreign Cultural Exchange Consultants, Inc., these distinguished educators from the Philippines are provided with comprehensive support, including assistance in arranging housing accommodations and essential needs such as food, household goods, transportation, and security. This support is aimed at ensuring a stress-free transition, allowing them to focus on preparing to teach our students on the first day of school. Foreign Cultural Exchange Consultants, Inc. also offers financial and informational support to the exchange teachers, further ensuring a positive experience while living in the U.S.

Cultural exchange teachers are compensated using the same pay table as Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) teachers, based on education and years of experience. They also receive the same benefits afforded to MCPS teachers.

Why Philippines and not other countries?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hiring special ed teachers from the Philippines? Is this the answer to the teacher shortage?

They'll speak Spanish....that's why.

Ummm, they speak Tagalog and English.

In defense of the person who suggested they speak Spanish, it’s true that the Spanish were an influence in the Philippines long ago and the influence remains in religion and some names, though not the language much.

There is no defense for that. Please don’t try to defend ignorance and stupidity.

Anonymous wrote:So new american teachers get 1 year contracts but immigrants get 3 year. They dont even have american certs or the debts that they incur.

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No, that’s not how it works. Contract for foreign teachers is with a company. Contract for US teachers is with MCPS and yes, it’s for a year until tenured. Tenure is now the first day of the fourth year. And not all US teachers hired by MCPS are certified either.

New US teachers aren’t indentured servants. They don’t owe their employer what it costs to arrange work permits and fly them here.

One Filipina teacher in Baltimore became gravely ill and couldn’t finish her contract. She just want to go home. She was subject to horrible harassment and threats of legal action.


Also, why is our government forcing our citizens to take out student loans to become public school teachers? Why aren’t we paying off a year of college for each year served in the classroom beginning year one?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is their special education experience. I don’t believe the Philippines is known for exemplary special education services in their schools

Lol. Do you think the districts care about that? They need warm bodies without criminal records willing to do the job. They’ve driven away Americans who are tired of being overworked and unpaid. They’ve had enough of being treated like crap.

They are here looking to find husbands. I guarantee it.

nothing wrong with that.

When my mom’s distract had Filipino teachers all but one were already married to a Filipino man and they all had kids back home. They make enormous sacrifices to be here for a few years.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hiring special ed teachers from the Philippines? Is this the answer to the teacher shortage?

They'll speak Spanish....that's why.

Ummm, they speak Tagalog and English.

In defense of the person who suggested they speak Spanish, it’s true that the Spanish were an influence in the Philippines long ago and the influence remains in religion and some names, though not the language much.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hiring special ed teachers from the Philippines? Is this the answer to the teacher shortage?

They'll speak Spanish....that's why.

Ummm, they speak Tagalog and English.

Anonymous wrote:I still think they should recruit homeless people bc they are americans and war vets that are used to similar war zones and they already have ptsd so its a win win for everyone.

I love this!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is their special education experience. I don’t believe the Philippines is known for exemplary special education services in their schools

Lol. Do you think the districts care about that? They need warm bodies without criminal records willing to do the job. They’ve driven away Americans who are tired of being overworked and unpaid. They’ve had enough of being treated like crap.

They are here looking to find husbands. I guarantee it.

nothing wrong with that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pare ts, you would be up in arms with placards in front of central office of mcps decided to solve its math teacher shortage by importing a large group from the Philippines.

It's outrageous that mcps treats it's Special Needs children this way. What a disgrace!

They are very well trained teachers and our math teacher from the Philippines is awesome. If it weren’t for the behavior issues, they’d be fantastic.

I’m guessing they are better at math than at special education. Isn’t special education an afterthought in the Philippines. They will be shocked at the number of kids with ieps and 504s and all the different accommodations given in the US. Not to mention the combative parents

You’re think of Ethan whose mom doesn’t believe in meds to treat his ADHD but doesn’t want him to earn less than a 90%.

Those aren’t the kids they are being placed to teach. They are here for more severely disabled kids.

Interesting. So they will be working in self contained classrooms?

Doubtful. There are not that many self contained classrooms. And you don’t want a newbie in them.

There is one going into a SESES program. Poor thing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pare ts, you would be up in arms with placards in front of central office of mcps decided to solve its math teacher shortage by importing a large group from the Philippines.

It's outrageous that mcps treats it's Special Needs children this way. What a disgrace!

They are very well trained teachers and our math teacher from the Philippines is awesome. If it weren’t for the behavior issues, they’d be fantastic.

I’m guessing they are better at math than at special education. Isn’t special education an afterthought in the Philippines. They will be shocked at the number of kids with ieps and 504s and all the different accommodations given in the US. Not to mention the combative parents

You’re think of Ethan whose mom doesn’t believe in meds to treat his ADHD but doesn’t want him to earn less than a 90%.

Those aren’t the kids they are being placed to teach. They are here for more severely disabled kids.

Interesting. So they will be working in self contained classrooms?

Doubtful. There are not that many self contained classrooms. And you don’t want a newbie in them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:are their contracts with MCPS or with a staffing agency? I'm most curious about how this works from an employer/employee perspective.

Who could we ask?

Perhaps MCEA could provide us with those answers.

Me a probably doesn’t know or care. It is a contract with a staffing agency. The boe can pay games with numbers by this.

Can they join MCEA when they start working? They will need union support or MCPS will trample all over them

Let’s hope MCPS provides them support and doesn’t set them up to fail. They will need at least a year to adjust to the American system which is like nowhere else in many ways (the good and the bad). I’m so curious how much they are being paid. I hope they are not being screwed over