Dana Goldstein, a correspondent for the New York Times, recently published an article covering Arizona schools hiring migrant teachers to help fix their "teacher crisis". On the Times Insider page, Goldstein also published a corresponding story one day after her original article was published. In short, her original article covered the ongoing teacher shortage in Arizona due to the low pay. Her story follows Mr. Soberano, a Filipino teacher in Arizona on a J-1 visa, and what the process of importing migrant teachers looks like for poor school districts in Arizona.
Initially, I was shocked to hear that school-districts were purposely seeking out these migrant workers to fulfill empty positions within the district; however this shock comes from a different perspective of race than one might think. The coverage of the hiring of migrant workers in large quantities reinforces: low teacher pay, racist ideologies, and the unattainable "American Dream".
To begin, it is wrong that poor school districts in Arizona are purposely seeking out teachers (from the Philippians, in this instance) that hold a visa simply because it saves the school district money. Arizona ranks 42nd in the nation for lowest teacher pay, and with the hiring of so many migrant workers, it reinforces the belief that this low-pay for teachers is ok. I fear that those in power, mainly government heads of education, will see this as an acceptable way to continue de-funding school districts. Why keep granting school districts large sums of money if they can continue to scrape by through hiring migrant workers for low-pay. Arizona needs to get to the root of the problem by re-evaluating their public school system. Growing up in a poor school district in Central Illinois that operated without a state budget for over 2 years, I understand the effects of de-funding programs, budget cuts, teacher consolidations, and permanent substitute teachers.
Another reason why this hiring spree should be a cause for concern is that a mass hiring of immigrant workers, especially in areas that are desperately seeking workers, can spark an even deeper distrust of migrant workers. Typically, this distrust has been towards Hispanic migrant workers - reinforced through President Trump's constant belittling of Hispanics as "MS-13 criminals" and "rapists". Even though it's evident that migrant workers are not taking jobs from Americans but merely trying to make a living, many Americans still don't believe this. A new distrust of Filipino workers could be forming since they are becoming the new face (read: scapegoat) of Arizona public schools in a time when the schools are under-funded and desperately struggling. School Administrators seem receptive to the influx of migrant workers, but it is unclear how high turn over rates in already floundering school districts will affect Arizona in the future.
Although teachers like Mr. Soberano are simply trying to provide for their families, the hidden costs of acquiring a visa, finding a job in the US, and temporarily moving here is astounding. It was reported that Mr. Soberano paid $12,500 to private agencies to find him a job, several thousand to his sponsor, and additional fees when it comes time to renew his visa. Even with these heavy costs that required Mr. Soberano to save 3 years worth in salary, his underpaid teacher salary of $40,000 still pays him 4 times the amount he would've received in the Philippians. The good intentions of these teachers are evident in the way Mr. Soberano speaks about his job and family saying, "You have to make some sacrifices to leave your family way back home," and "One thing I also learned is to be friends with the students".
I applaud the ambitious migrant workers in their quest to teach in the US, but I am still concerned with how this crisis will pan out in a few years once the Arizona teacher crisis has lost its momentum.
Initially, I was shocked to hear that school-districts were purposely seeking out these migrant workers to fulfill empty positions within the district; however this shock comes from a different perspective of race than one might think. The coverage of the hiring of migrant workers in large quantities reinforces: low teacher pay, racist ideologies, and the unattainable "American Dream".
To begin, it is wrong that poor school districts in Arizona are purposely seeking out teachers (from the Philippians, in this instance) that hold a visa simply because it saves the school district money. Arizona ranks 42nd in the nation for lowest teacher pay, and with the hiring of so many migrant workers, it reinforces the belief that this low-pay for teachers is ok. I fear that those in power, mainly government heads of education, will see this as an acceptable way to continue de-funding school districts. Why keep granting school districts large sums of money if they can continue to scrape by through hiring migrant workers for low-pay. Arizona needs to get to the root of the problem by re-evaluating their public school system. Growing up in a poor school district in Central Illinois that operated without a state budget for over 2 years, I understand the effects of de-funding programs, budget cuts, teacher consolidations, and permanent substitute teachers.
 |
| Picture via The Washington Post |
Although teachers like Mr. Soberano are simply trying to provide for their families, the hidden costs of acquiring a visa, finding a job in the US, and temporarily moving here is astounding. It was reported that Mr. Soberano paid $12,500 to private agencies to find him a job, several thousand to his sponsor, and additional fees when it comes time to renew his visa. Even with these heavy costs that required Mr. Soberano to save 3 years worth in salary, his underpaid teacher salary of $40,000 still pays him 4 times the amount he would've received in the Philippians. The good intentions of these teachers are evident in the way Mr. Soberano speaks about his job and family saying, "You have to make some sacrifices to leave your family way back home," and "One thing I also learned is to be friends with the students".
I applaud the ambitious migrant workers in their quest to teach in the US, but I am still concerned with how this crisis will pan out in a few years once the Arizona teacher crisis has lost its momentum.
Comments
Post a Comment