International Teachers

in the USA

 
 
 
 

Vocabulary

 

out (5)	strike (2)	definitely
save (3)	demand	private (2)
lack	vacancy	equivalent
fill	funding	sacrifice (2)
hire	worth it	all the way
massive	blessing	hear/heard/heard
oversee	sponsor	make/made/made (2)
average	shortage	when it comes to
district	applicant	superintendent
decide	rank (2)	attractive (2)
affect	qualified	correspondent
in fact	public (2)	outsource
hole (2)	union (2)	lead/led/led
add (2)	funding	left behind
greet	majority	nationwide
cost	overseas	think/thought/thought
fee		opportunity

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Video

 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

Nora, News Anchor: “Schools are still out in Chicago for a tenth day. Striking teachers outside public schools demanding better pay. A lack of education funding is one reason there are more than a hundred-thousand (100,000) teacher vacancies nationwide. It’s a huge number.

And as Hillary Lane reports, some jobs are being filled from overseas.”

 

This group of women share means, and live together to save money.

Teacher from the Philippines, one: “We have the same reasons why we are here: sacrifice for our families. And all our sacrifices was worth it.”

They’ve come all the way from the Philippines to do a job fewer and fewer Americans want to do: teach.

Andrea Laksim, Filipino Teacher in the US: “I heard from my friend that there is a massive hiring of teachers here in the US.”

Back home, Andrea Laksim was making four-hundred dollars ($400) a month; here, she makes NINE times more. She’s one of eight teachers from overseas. working at McGee Middle School in Tuscon, Arizona.

Andrea Laksim, Filipino Teacher in the US: “You know this is a very big opportunity for me; a very big blessing.”

 

There are more than fourteen-hundred (1,444) teacher vacancies in Arizona this year. The state ranks forty-fifth (45th) out of fifty (50) when it comes to teacher salaries.

The average school teacher in America makes sixty-thousand dollars ($60,477) a year.

In Tucson, Arizona, it’s forty-two thousand ($42,000).

Dr. Gabriel Trujillo, Tucson District Superintendent: “So there are more vacancies than applicants. The pay isn’t very attractive. We finally decided it would probably be time to look overseas.”

Dr. Gabriel Trujillo is the Tucson District Superintendent. He oversees the hiring of international teachers.

Hillary Lane, News Correspondent: “How do the teacher shortages affect the school district and then the children?”
Dr. Gabriel Trujillo, Tucson District Superintendent: “So where you have two classes of eighteen or nineteen, if one of the classes doesn’t have a highly qualified teacher due to the vacancy, now we have a single class of thirty-eight students.”

Hillary Lane, News Correspondent: “Does it seem like the job of a teacher is being outsourced?
Margaret Chaney, Tucson Educators’ Union President: “ . . . Yes . . . Definitely. In fact, I’m seeing a lot of that.”

Margaret Chaney is the president of the Tucson Public Educators’ Union. She helped lead a week-long teachers’ strike last year.

Margaret Chaney, Tucson Educators’ Union President: “You’ve brought in these other teachers, and now you’ve filled those holes. There’s no reason to add funding, which is a problem for us left behind.”

 

Nationwide, in 2018, there are more than three-thousand (3,252) international teachers in US classrooms, up fifty percent (50%) from 2014. The majority of those teachers come from the Philippines.

And we were there when another teacher arrived.

Hillary Lane, News Correspondent: “When you see all of these smiling face here to greet you, what were you thinking.
New Teacher from the Philippines: “I was thinking it’s really great to be here in the United States.”

 

Hillary Lane, News Correspondent: “International teachers must have the equivalent of a US bachelor’s degree and two years of teaching experience to qualify. But the process is expensive for them, costing eight-thousand dollars ($8,000) in sponsorship fees alone. Nora.”

Nora, News Anchor: “Your piece is going to raise a lot of questions. Hillary, thank you.”

*     *     *     *     *     *     *

 

Questions

10. In the report, teachers and students in Chicago are in their classrooms, having lessons, as usual. True or false?

20. Do the teachers from the Philippines live in their own apartments?

30. Why do many Filipinos come to teach in American schools?

40. Is there a teacher shortage in the United States? Why is there a teacher shortage?

50. What are some consequences of the teacher shortage?

60. Everyone is pleased and satisfied with international teachers working in the United States. Is this right or wrong?

70. International teachers make up a third (1/3) of all teachers in the US. Is this correct or incorrect?

80. Is it easy and straightforward to recruit teachers from overseas?

 

G. Is everything normal in schools in your country, in terms of teaching staff, funding and supplies?

H. Teaching is an attractive career choice. Yes or no? Do young people aspire to become teachers?

I. There are international or foreigner teachers in our schools. True or false?

J. Should governments do anything? What could or should governments do?

K. What might happen in the future?