Dept. of Education fires Caribbean teachers
By Lolita Long, Weekly Gleaner, 16 June 2004. English Language.

Nearly 200 Caribbean teachers, mostly Jamaicans and Guyanese, have been given termination letters by the New York Board of Education, as they do not have the required new H-1B visa. The letters were sent out on May 27, with effective dates for the end of the school year, June 30.

An emergency meeting was called last week by community leaders to find a strategy to deal with the impending exodus of teachers either back to their homeland or the unemployment line. It was expected that Caribbean elected officials would address the meeting, ironically at one of the schools that could be affected, IS 61, in the heart of the Caribbean community in Brooklyn.

"This demands community and political response as the New York Board of Education is acting with insensitivity. It's cause for great concern, and I believe the options are very limited," said Irwine Claire, one of the architects of the plan to recruit Caribbean teachers into the school system.

Hyacinth Spence, a former president of the Mico Old Students Association, has been a source of inspiration for the teachers since they arrived in the United States. She was flabbergasted at what was happening and says that, as a "concerned teacher" she would be reaching out to elected officials and the United of Federation of Teachers (UFT).

A former teacher at Kingston College who now teaches at a middle school in the Bronx was "totally devastated and disappointed at this predicament." She said that she had followed all the procedures. She had received a letter dated December 13, 2002, indicating that her waiver was under review, then another letter dated May 18, 2004, acknowledging receipt of her request for foreign residency requirement. The last letter followed less than two weeks later bidding her farewell.

"I came here to do a job. I have been doing well at it and to say leave with little or no notice is really bad. I have no job here or in Jamaica. I guess I will have to leave and try to be recruited again," she told the Gleaner.

The letter, signed by Janpeg Avignon, director of the National and International Recruitment, New York City Department of Education, said, "As you are aware, you were recruited during the 2001 school year under the provision of a J-1 visa. As you know the J-1 visa is valid for one year, and was renewed for an additional two years for a total of three years. This is the maximum number of years you may work on a J-1 visa."

With the J-1 visa, a person is allowed to bring a spouse and children. The spouse is allowed to work as a work permit is granted.

The H-1B visa does not allow the spouse to work unless a sponsor is identified.

Procedures were introduced in 2003 to have the teachers' status changed. They were required to apply for the H-1B visa. Several teachers applied for the change in status, waivers were granted, and they will not be affected.

"At this time, you have not filed an application to change your status. Since you have not filed this request, your employment with the New York City Department of Education (DOE) will end at the conclusion of this school year. The Office of Recruitment will no longer be processing J-1 to H-1B visa application," the letter went on to explain.

The Gleaner got copies of several documents outlining the various procedures to be followed by the teachers. One document from the International Teachers Organization, (ITO) with offices on Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, said the teachers met with DOE lawyers, Mark Rhodes and Helen Conrad, and Janet Petrosino of the Center for Recruitment and Professional Development in February 2003. They were advised that to convert their J-1 visa to an H-1B visa they had to follow certain steps.

Those include applying to the U.S. State Department for a file number; requesting a "No Objection Statement" from their respective countries, and if issued one, that it be sent through the embassy to the Department of State.

To get a letter of No Objection, documents have to be sent to the appropriate embassy, which would then send them to the government of the home country to get the paper work done. Checks are made to ensure that no money is outstanding (e.g. student loans, or outstanding bonds). If all is clear, the statement is issued; if not all money owed by the teacher has to be paid.

Upon receipt of the No Objection Statement, the State Department would issue a waiver, which would remove the two-year residency requirement as stipulated by the J-1 visa. This waiver is sent to the applicant by the state. It is the teacher's responsibility to take this letter to the Department of Education to start the filing process for the H-1B visas, which should take up to eight weeks.

The ITO's document further explained that no No Objection statements had been processed for over four months due "to internal delays" and that no attempt had been made by the Department of Education to make contact with the Department of State to "get the processing of the waivers expedited."

However in another document, "concerned teachers" said that they were advised in March of last year that it would not be "prudent to initiate the process because there would not be enough time to convert from the J-1 visa to the H-1B." They claim that they were advised to wait until they received the third J-1 visa before applying for the waiver.

"As per the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services stipulation, both the J-1 visa and the waiver should not be processed at the same time," the statement said. They were also advised that if they had travel plans, "you should not start filing for the waiver, as traveling with an undefined [migratory] status could jeopardize chances of returning to the United States."

The Gleaner understands that other matters compound the problems the teachers are experiencing, like that the number of H-1B visas issued was reduced drastically, almost by half. The matter of federal taxes to be paid is also a sore point with the teachers.

In the meantime, the Dept. of Education is still recruiting teachers as indicated by ads on television.

Included by permission of Weekly Gleaner. Voices © 2004, IPA, all rights reserved.