| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Howard Rothenburg" |
| Date: |
30 Nov 2003 10:50:24 PM |
| Object: |
Importing Low Cost H-1B Foreign Teachers |
From: "H1BNews" <>
---------------<<<>>>---------------
JOB DESTRUCTION NEWSLETTER
by Rob Sanchez
www.ZaZona.com
---------------<<<>>>---------------
Texas and Houston area schools are the leaders in the movement to
import H-1B teachers into the U.S. to reduce the cost of educating our
kids. They use a bodyshop called "USA Employment" who brags that they
have imported teachers in districts from Arizona to Connecticut (Read
newsletter "Arizona Teachers recruited from India" March 25, 2003 to
learn more about this bodyshop). USA Employment gives school districts
a deal they can't resist - all expense paid trip to India so that they
can buy the cheapest teachers in New Delhi. The company pays the way
of school district officials to India to interview candidates.
USA Employment indentures their H-1Bs by charging a fee of as much as
$500 a month for three years to cover the cost of finding their Indian
teachers a job. This practice is an interesting way to beat the H-1B
regulations that specifically states that employers have to cover the
costs of the visa. USA Employment skirts the law merely by calling it a
"finders fee" instead of a visa-processing fee. My guess is that the
H-1B teachers are paying for the junkets made by those greedy school
administrators to come to India.
In the article, Mr. Agarwal, earns about $2,800 a month teaching in
Texas instead of India. After his indentured contract fee, that comes
to about $27,600 a year. That's still $24,000 a year better than his
$3,600 a year salary in India, It's no small wonder that Agarwal is
willing to indenture himself to his American masters!
So, what are the teacher's unions doing about the importation of H-1B
teachers? Finally, after more than 13 years of sitting on their
backsides, the NEA got around to writing a report that expressed
concern that not all foreign teachers receive comparable pay. It's yet
to be seen whether the NEA actually does something about it. (I'll bet
that NEA report is a real belly-thumper so for my entertainment, why
don't one of you teachers on this mailing list mail me their report.)
School officials say that there is a growing teacher shortage because
of the low pay and poor working conditions that teachers endure. These
schools are quite happy that H-1B enables them to hire Indian H-1Bs
that are willing to endure what American teachers wont. Smiley
Principal Norris Rhines said that Indian teachers like Mr. Agarwal
"help us reach the goal that we're striving for". She thinks that our
children will score better on achievement tests if Texas hires hoards
of cheap H-1Bs from India instead of paying American teachers what they
are worth.
------------------------------------
http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/112903dnteximportteach.1377
a.html
Foreign teachers take up the slack
As American supply dwindles, school districts look abroad for
qualified educators
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09:23 PM CST on Friday, November 28, 2003
By BRUCE NICHOLS / The Dallas Morning News
HOUSTON - Last year, Vivek Agarwal was teaching math in a private
school in his native India. This year, he's teaching chemistry at
Smiley High School in Houston's North Forest Independent School
District.
"It is very exciting," said Mr. Agarwal, 36, who is fulfilling his
dream of coming to the United States. In the process, he is making
$2,800 a month as opposed to $300 a month in India.
His students are happy. "I think he's a great teacher," said Tasheka
Jones, a 17-year-old sophomore.
Aiming to improve on poor achievement test scores, administrators are
also happy. "It's teachers like him who are going to help us reach the
goal that we're striving for," said Smiley Principal Norris Rhines.
North Forest ISD honored Mr. Agarwal on Monday night for scoring 100 on
his Texas teacher certification test.
Mr. Agarwal exemplifies the expanding global reach of the search for
teachers to ease a U.S. teacher shortage that officials estimate at
50,000 a year and likely to grow because of low pay, poor working
conditions and retirement of baby-boomer teachers.
Companies are springing up to help school officials find teachers
overseas, including a new company in Houston, USA Employment, which
specializes in teachers from India. It helped Mr. Agarwal land the job
at Smiley.
U.S. schools have imported teachers for years, and Texas and Houston
area schools are leaders in the effort, according to a National
Education Association study of foreign teacher recruitment published in
June.
Of 10,000 foreign teachers working in U.S. public schools last year,
more than 3,000 were in Texas, estimated NEA, the nation's largest
teachers' union. In the Houston area alone, there were 2,400, including
915 in the Houston Independent School District, while the Dallas
Independent School District had 88, the NEA said.
Most were brought to meet the need for bilingual instruction, and with
the biggest immigrant populations being from south of the border, the
emphasis has been on Spain, Mexico and Latin America, officials said.
Bringing teachers from India is relatively new, said Ron Kettler,
interim director of the Texas Board of Educator Certification.
But the phenomenon likely will grow because there is a need not just
for Hispanic bilingual instruction, but for math and science teachers,
said Jay Kumar, a former petrochemical engineer who two years ago
started USA Employment to help districts recruit teachers in India.
India has a pool of experienced teachers highly qualified in math and
science. And because India had been part of the British Empire, most
Indian teachers speak English.
"We think this is the best solution," Mr. Kumar said.
USA Employment is not the only company in the field - the NEA report
listed several others that have operated longer - but in just two years
it has placed 120 teachers in districts from Arizona to Connecticut.
Fare paid for officials
The company pays the way of school district officials to India to
interview candidates. For those unable to travel, it can provide
videotapes or teleconferenced interviewing from its Delhi office, run
by Mr. Kumar's brother.
The teachers pay their own way, coming to the United States on
non-immigrant visas, and they remit to USA Employment a fee of as much
as $500 a month for three years to cover the cost of finding them a
job, Mr. Kumar said.
In its recent report, the NEA expressed concern that not all foreign
teachers receive comparable pay. The group also doubted the wisdom of
people paying agencies to get jobs in the United States.
Some districts - including Dallas ISD - have a policy of avoiding such
arrangements. "We don't charge for our services, and we don't want any
of our employees to wind up paying somebody to come to work for the
district," DISD spokesman Donnie Claxton said.
The Houston school district, working with the Region IV Texas Education
Service Center, doesn't use private agencies either, said Terry Abbott,
HISD spokesman.
But the need is great and growing, partly because of Congress' recent
passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, requiring qualified teachers
in every classroom, said Larry Zenke, a consultant to school districts.
"We need to expand our traditional recruiting avenues to find the
teachers we need," said Dr. Zenke, who recently returned from a USA
Employment recruiting trip for the Jacksonville-Duval County school
district in Florida.
Mr. Agarwal said his arrangement with USA Employment has been
beneficial. "I appreciate the program," he said.
Borrowed money for trip
He made two trips to the United States before finding a job, borrowing
the total cost of $6,000 - $2,000 for the first trip, $4,000 for the
second - from his father. "I'm paying him back now," Mr. Agarwal said.
The calculation Indian teachers make is simple, officials said. While
students are more respectful in India and teachers' position in society
is more respected, there's much greater opportunity in America.
"People want to come basically because this is the best place you can
be," said Isha Gangopadhya, a third-grade teacher placed in the Houston
suburb of Sugar Land by USA Employment.
Teaching at Smiley has been challenging but rewarding, Mr. Agarwal
said. "The students need me more. Their morale has been really low.
They're being told they're bad, they're stupid, all these things. ... I
tell them they're doing good. I force them to think," he said.
Judging from a recent session in the classroom, his approach is
working. As he used the question-and-answer method to walk students
through how various materials conduct electricity, he held the
attention of most in the class.
"When he's trying to teach you something, he makes sure you get it
before he goes on," said John Davis, a 16-year-old sophomore.
"He doesn't give up," said Jessica Contreras, 16. "If you don't give
up, he won't give up. He keeps going. ... He really cares about his
students. You can tell it from the way he teaches."
Problems at first
Both Mr. Agarwal and his students acknowledged there were some
communication problems at first because of his Indian-accented English
and their Texas accents and American slang.
"We had to work together to understand each other," Ms. Jones said.
"Initially, I was having some problems, but now I am comfortable," Mr.
Agarwal agreed.
Although teachers enter the country on visas lasting up to six years,
many seek to stay either as permanent residents or become U.S.
citizens. Mr. Kumar wants to bring his wife, Tulika, to the United
States and eventually to become a citizen. He has no children.
Even if he doesn't stay in the country, Mr. Agarwal said the experience
will have been valuable. "I've really learned a lot, and if I go back
from here, I've a very good chance to become a principal or to guide
other teachers," he said.
E-mail
.
|
|
| User: "InsuranceBroker" |
|
| Title: Re: Importing Low Cost H-1B Foreign Teachers |
01 Dec 2003 09:14:44 AM |
|
|
Subject: Importing Low Cost H-1B Foreign Teachers
From: Howard Rothenburg
Date: 11/30/2003 11:50 PM Eastern Standard Time
Message-id: <Pine.GSO.4.58.0311302342490.21520@mail>
Texas and Houston area schools are the leaders in the movement to
import H-1B teachers into the U.S. to reduce the cost of educating our
kids
The kids watching the teacher soon learns that it is stupid to get an
education. You cannot even teach in your local town.
Most of the push is the result corruption and not cost saving. The Indians
have become very good at setting up groups and forcing them on others. The
computer industry is a classic case. They stated the h1--b with the cry that
they only do work that Americans do not want to do. Then they took all the
computer jobs.
They use a bodyshop called "USA Employment" who brags that they
have imported teachers in districts from Arizona to Connecticut (Read
newsletter "Arizona Teachers recruited from India" March 25,
More likely they have one white face for the pamplets and a bunch of Indian
money in the background.
earn more about this bodyshop). USA Employment gives school districts
a deal they can't resist - all expense paid trip to India so that they
can buy the cheapest teachers in New Delhi.
Why would they have to go to India but to get money which they bring back in
the luggage. Most of the deals are corruption.
The company pays the way
of school district officials to India to interview candidates.
A lot of the interviews are in bed rooms. They provide a well tested group of
hookers.
USA Employment indentures their H-1Bs by charging a fee of as much as
$500 a month for three years to cover the cost of finding their Indian
teachers a job. This practice is an interesting way to beat the H-1B
regulations that specifically states
that employers have to cover the
costs of the visa. USA Employment skirts the law merely by calling it a
"finders fee" instead of a visa-processing fee. My guess is that the
H-1B teachers are paying for the junkets made by those greedy school
administrators to come to India.
In the article, Mr. Agarwal, earns about $2,800 a month teaching in
Texas instead of India. After his indentured contract fee, that comes
to about $27,600 a year. That's still $24,000 a year better than his
$3,600 a year salary in India
His kids get great medical care thanks to medicaid. His wife probably works
for an India firm under the table so the taxes are not collects.
It's no small wonder that Agarwal is
willing to indenture himself to his American masters!
90 percent of the Mr Aganwat are willing to indenture themself because they
know it leads to a green card. During the time indentured they pay almost no
taxes.
So, what are the teacher's unions doing about the importation of H-1B
teachers? Finally, after more than 13 years of sitting on their
backsides, the NEA got around to writing a report that expressed
concern that not all foreign teachers receive comparable pay. It's yet
to be seen whether the NEA actually does something about it. (I'll bet
that NEA report is a real belly-thumper so for my entertainment, why
don't one of you teachers on this mailing list mail me their report.)
Why do they not point out the damage that it does to a kid to know that even
the school district will not hire him.
School officials say that there is a growing teacher shortage because
of the low pay and poor working conditions that teachers endure. These
*****. They like the free trips to India and the hookers.
The hospitals cried the same thing was they cut the salaries for 50 years
because they had cheap labor.
Doing Insurance business in the Garden State
.
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