Filipino teachers held in 'servitude'

[WannaGo]

There are so many things wrong here.

1. We're so short of qualified teachers that we have to recruit outside the country.

2. The school districts seem to have done little to take care of the teachers in their employ.

3. The woman behind all of this is not already in jail.

Federal complaint: Filipino teachers held in 'servitude'

By Greg Toppo and Icess Fernandez, USA TODAY

BATON ROUGE — It has been more than two years since Ingrid Cruz aced a middle-of-the-night video interview in Manila, borrowed $10,000 from her parents and flew halfway around the world to take a job here teaching middle school science.

She was seeking that most American of dreams: a new life, and opportunities she couldn't approach back home. But along the way, Cruz says she has endured intimidation, humiliation, extortion and a long, painful separation from her young daughters.

Cruz is one of more than 300 teachers imported to Louisiana from the Philippines since 2007, a group of educators who say collectively they paid millions of dollars in cash to a Filipino recruiting firm, PARS International Placement Agency, and its sister company, Los Angeles-based Universal Placement International Inc.

Cases like those of Cruz and others prompted the American Federation of Teachers and its state affiliate, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers, to file a complaint on Sept. 30 with the state Workforce Commission and attorney general. On Oct. 20, AFT filed a lengthier complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor. The unions allege the companies kept the teachers in "virtual servitude" by holding onto their U.S. work visas unless they kept paying inflated fees, commissions and rents.

Teachers paid upward of $16,000 apiece — about four times what they could earn annually as teachers in the Philippines — to get and keep jobs with public schools here.

USA TODAY was unsuccessful in repeated attempts since Oct. 16 to get a response to the allegations from Lourdes "Lulu" Navarro, the owner of Universal, or a spokesperson.

The situation underscores the vulnerabilities of a small but growing corner of teacher recruitment: the H-1B visa program, which last year brought an estimated 6,000 teachers to the USA to fill hard-to-staff jobs in subjects such as math, foreign languages and special education. An estimated 19,000 migrant teachers work in U.S. schools, according to AFT, which last month warned of "widespread and egregious" abuses of imported teachers.

"I'm very concerned that there are more places like this," says American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten. "Even if it was an isolated incident, it would be horrible, but my hunch right now is that it's not isolated."

H-1Bs are reserved for skilled professionals. The law overseeing them relies heavily on employers to protect against fraud and abuse. In this case, critics contend that several Louisiana school districts — including East Baton Rouge, Jefferson, Caddo and the state-controlled Recovery School District (RSD) in New Orleans — at best were negligent in not looking out for the best interests of teachers.

[Wino]

There are so many things wrong here.

1. We're so short of qualified teachers that we have to recruit outside the country.

2. The school districts seem to have done little to take care of the teachers in their employ.

3. The woman behind all of this is not already in jail.

There are so many things wrong here. With unemployment so high, you would think the US would be able to retrain and hire qualified teachers here in the US. School districts should have provided some help for these foreign teachers. I would have thought a fellow teacher or friend would have stepped up. Not sure what woman should be behind bars. Looks to me that PARS International Placement Agency, and its sister company, Los Angeles-based Universal Placement International Inc. should be called out on their fee structure, if indeed it can be shown the 300 teachers paid millions of dollars for a $16,000 a year job.

[WannaGo]

Looks to me that PARS International Placement Agency, and its sister company, Los Angeles-based Universal Placement International Inc. should be called out on their fee structure...

I think it's gone way beyond that. It's time for criminal charges.

And, unless there is some great explanation that was not included in this story, then probably some people within the various school district administrations should lose their jobs.

[Wino]

Not much the authorities can do to Filipinos living abroad. I don't have the details but it seems a stretch to me to hold the school administrators responsible for outrageous fees the teachers willingly paid to a third party. Maybe PARS International Placement Agency can be brought to justice if the evidence shows some wrong doing.

[WannaGo]

Not much the authorities can do to Filipinos living abroad.

The woman who owns and runs this whole thing lives in the States.

I don't have the details but it seems a stretch to me to hold the school administrators responsible for outrageous fees the teachers willingly paid to a third party.

Did you read the entire story? The school districts were the ones who were supposed to be making the visa arrangements, not this third-party contractor...and there was that interesting little nugget about the junket to the Philippines for some of the school officials, courtesy of the contractor.

[Wino]

The woman who owns and runs this whole thing lives in the States.

Where in the article did it say that? I guess you can gather that Lulu owns the sister company and lives in the US. In the above post, I meant to say Universal Placement International Inc and not Pars International Placement Agency.

Did you read the entire story? ...and there was that interesting little nugget about the junket to the Philippines for some of the school officials, courtesy of the contractor.

What are you smoking? I didn't read about any little nuggets about junkets.

[WannaGo]

Where in the article did it say that? I guess you can gather that Lulu owns the sister company and lives in the US. In the above post, I meant to say Universal Placement International Inc and not Pars International Placement Agency.

What are you smoking? I didn't read about any little nuggets about junkets.

Obviously, what's excerpted above is not the entire story. I forgot to include the link...but you can easily Google it.

[Wino]

Did you read the entire story? The school districts were the ones who were supposed to be making the visa arrangements, not this third-party contractor...and there was that interesting little nugget about the junket to the Philippines for some of the school officials, courtesy of the contractor.

I did read the entire story. My fault for not doing an easy Google!