Tucson charter schools hire H-1Bs, claim U.S. teachers aren't qualified

[Newsjock]

Source: Arizona Daily Star

Tucson's Sonoran Science Academy and its sister schools import an unusually large proportion of their staff from foreign countries, especially Turkey, in a practice that parallels the customs of an important Turkish religious-political movement.

The five Sonoran Science Academy charter schools and their parent company, Daisy Education Corp., received U.S. Labor Department certification to fill 39 teaching and administrative jobs with foreigners last year, federal data show. From 2002 through 2009, the schools have received certifications for 120 H-1B visas.

That's more certifications than any comparable school in Arizona received in that eight-year period - and more than the six biggest school districts in Southern Arizona combined.

Sonoran Science Academy schools and Daisy Education requested so many visas because they have been unable to find adequate math and science teachers in the United States, because Daisy Education is adding schools fast, and because, in some cases, multiple applications were filed for the same person or position, Superintendent Ozkur Yildiz said via e-mail.

Read more: http://azstarnet.com/news/science/environment/article_dec199db-be3f-5519-be3d-f6ad970db1f8.html

[Sebastian Doyle]

1. Make up your mind, AZ fascist repukes.

One day you bitch about immigrants stealing your jobs, the next day you give them away. Which is it?

[paulsby]

5. they bitch about ILLEGAL immigrants

hth

it irks me when people fail to draw this distinction.

[sandnsea]

8. They bitch about disappearing jobs

And people who come here and don't make enough money to pay for the services they require.

That's what they bitch about.

And then turn around and give jobs to foreigners who are undoubtedly getting paid half what a union teacher would be.

If there were enough good paying jobs for everybody, no one would care who lived here. But these people are too fucking stupid to see that any time they undercut a good union job, they're really cutting their own throats.

[paulsby]

9. i was referring to the current kerfuffle in arizona

and of course i don't support the legislation fwiw.

[sandnsea]

22. And so am I

The argument you use is nothing more than embellishment to cover the racism which is what really fuels the resentment over the jobs and services.

[paulsby]

25. i'm not buying it

the VAST majority of arizona voters supported this bill.

i've read somewhere around 75%. and no, i don't think most of those people are racist.

back to the original point, i am anti-illegal immigration (although against this bill), but strongly pro-immigration

they are entirely different things

[sandnsea]

26. If you don't care if they're here

Then you don't care if they're here.

Do you think your compadres are ready to open the borders so everyone can come legally??

Why hell no. Because legal/illegal isn't the issue.

It's a talking point racists concocted and fed to a bunch of fools who would rather blame poor broke Mexicans than the greedy white assholes who are profiting off of them.

[paulsby]

29. in your opinion, not in mine

i have a friend who is busting ass, as a canadian citizen, in order to WORK here (not even near citizenship yet).

being for legal immigration is NOT the same thing as being for open borders. so, your question is silly.

people work hard and make great sacrifices to come here legally. and i am sorry, but EVERY nation has a right to determine who can and can;'t come in, simply put

how many fricking posts i have read here about people who would LOVE to move to country X (canada or a nation in europe usually) but they CAN'T because they need to get citizenship and don't meet certain requirements or whatever?

EXACTLY

i do not blame FOR A SECOND a poor mexican who crosses the border looking for a better life. i strongly suspect given similar circ's, i'd do the same.

that is completely tangential to the fact that it's still wrong, and a violation of our sovereignty.

[sandnsea]

30. And what difference would it make?

Would employers magically pay fair wages and benefits? Would they suddenly make more money and not need schools and social services? Would the drug problem disappear?

Just what problem, that is blamed on Mexicans, would legal immigration solve?

[paulsby]

31. i'm not sure how that is remotely relevant

and what difference would WHAT make?

again, are you for open borders? i am not

and like i said, people here tacitly accept that they can't just move to france, sweden, etc. and say "i'm here. you need to accept me as a citizen" but apparently that's ok for people in mexico to do, since they happen to be adjacent to us.

as for what problems would legal immigration solve? we SCREEN legal immigrants. heck, you can't even VISIT canada if you have a DUI conviction in WA state.

[sandnsea]

33. And that would solve what problem?

How would the drug problem in Mexico, and everything related, be solved by screening migrants who come here to work?

[paulsby]

39. nice strawman

who said it would?

the drug problem in mexico?

again, WHAT would solve what problem?

[sandnsea]

40. You won't acknowledge the problems

Pretty difficult to have an honest discussion with someone who won't discuss the problems. It's kind of like saying the only problem with slavery is that people didn't come here with freedom papers.

[paulsby]

46. to which problems are you referring?

i'm not trying to be obtuse. it's a simple question.

i assume we BOTH oppose the immigration law in arizona.

[Angry Dragon]

15. Good post

[The Backlash Cometh]

38. They don't like Mexican immigrants.

What we have here is discrimination that is shamefully manifested. Someday some kid is going to write a paper on this and nobody is going to believe that they got as far as they did.

[MadHound]

2. Yep, this is the next assault on education and teachers,

Bringing in the H1-B visas, claiming that US teachers, with years of experience, can't teach.

[SocialistLez]

3. DISGUSTING HYPOCRITES!! nt

[pinboy3niner]

4. No U.S. teachers available?????

The article suggests that there is a reason for this hiring pattern:

***
Some experts point to a different possible explanation: that Sonoran Science Academy is part of a loose global network of Turkish-run schools - 100 or more in the United States - inspired by Fethullah Gülen, who lives in exile in Pennsylvania. Worldwide, "Gülen schools" tend to hire teachers from Turkey and the broader "Turkic" world, including Central Asia, and their schools emphasize math, science and Turkish culture, scholars said.

"The schools are the basic avenue to build the Turkish community in America," said Hakan Yavuz, a political science professor at the University of Utah who co-authored the 2003 book "Turkish Islam and the Secular State: The Gülen Movement."
***

The question is, why is DOL accepting at face value the assertion that qualified teachers are not availoable in the U.S.?

[starroute]

10. Hmmm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fethullah_G%C3%BClen

Gülen teaches a moderate version of Sunni / Hanafi Islam, deriving from that of Said Nursi's teachings and modernizing them. Gülen condemns terrorism, supports interfaith dialogue, and has initiated such dialogue with the Vatican and some Jewish organisations.

In the Turkish context, however, Gülen appears relatively conservative and religiously observant. For example, he supports that women veil themselves, and his female followers usually do wear headscarves. . . .

Comparing Gülen to leaders in the Nur movement, Hakan Yavuz said, "Gülen is more Turkish nationalist in his thinking. Also, he is somewhat more state-oriented, and is more concerned with market economics and neo-liberal economic policies." His pro-business stance has led some outsiders to dub his theology an Islamic version of Calvinism. . . .

His teachings differ in emphasis from those of other mainstream, moderate Islamic scholars in two respects, both based on his interpretations of particular verses of the Qur'an: he teaches that the Muslim community has a duty of service (Turkish: hizmet) to the “common good” of the community and the nation and to Muslims and non-Muslims all over the world; also, the Muslim community is obliged to conduct interfaith dialogue with the "People of the Book" (Jews and Christians).

[pinboy3niner]

19. Hmmm, indeed

Thanks for the info. It appears there may be more to this than meets the eye.

[HughMoran]

6. I wonder if the H1B visa defenders will back this?

This is ridiculous.

[rpannier]

13. Of course they will

I mean it's only a drop in the bucket. right???

The supporters are, for the most part, people who are unaffected by the hirings

[AwakeAtLast]

7. Here we go

and I believe this was called by DU a few weeks ago.

[lumberjack_jeff]

11. Cool. Maybe this will clear up some of the DU ambiguity on the topic. n/t

[jberryhill]

12. You have GOT to be kidding /nt

[BrentWil]

14. Having smart hard working people...

Never hurts. It creates jobs. People from other countries want it. They want it alot more then most America's do, most of the time.

[Angry Dragon]

16. Not a very smart post

[whathehell]

17. Agreed.

[MindPilot]

18. H1B visa recipients doing the work Americans are too stupid and lazy to do?

Riiiight.

[pinboy3niner]

20. Why do you hate America? nt

[MadHound]

21. Hey, you,

I'm a teacher, with multiple degrees. I belong to several academic honor societies. I've got published work to my credit. My GPA is probably higher than your IQ, and that's the GPA on a four point scale. My IQ is probably higher than your weight, and I'm assuming that is generous.

How dare you imply that teachers are both dumb and lazy. You obviously have no clue what teachers do, you just buy into the spin that gets put out there by all the anti-teacher, anti-union yahoos. My suggestion, you need to go educate yourself about what teachers do, then see if you can keep up. First prerequisite, the ability to multitask and the willingness to work eighty hour weeks. Absorb that, then get back to me.

[proud2BlibKansan]

41. Pepperoni?

[madfloridian]

23. That's disgusting.

Recommended for the utter stupidity of the situation.

[saracat]

24. But indubitably something Arne Duncan would espouse.

[LWolf]

37. Yes, unfortunately. nt

[WillYourVoteBCounted]

27. and I'm sure their "papers are in order", right?

and with our global economy will we turn on each other and meanwhile export most
good jobs to other countries?

Or give visas to give away yet more jobs.

[Nikki Stone1]

28. It's all about the cheap non-union labor.

Welcome to the globalized workforce at your child's school.

[Hannah Bell]

32. well i hope they've got their papers on them.

stupid fucks. the legislators, not the h-1bs.

[BlooInBloo]

34. Apparently they have to pay "prevailing local wages", so cheap labor isn't what they're after...

I wonder what could possibly be their motivation?

[progressoid]

43. Well, the article implies...

Gülen started his first schools in Turkey in the early 1980s and established a focus on science and technology. He left out religion because Turkey's secular government would not permit it in schools. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Gülen's followers established hundreds of schools in the newly independent Central Asian countries, attempting to rekindle a Turkish cultural kinship there.

The schools spread to Europe, Africa and, since about 2000, to the United States, seizing charter-school opportunities arising around the country.

Yavuz, the University of Utah professor, said the schools may provide excellent science-and-math education, but there is another motive to their founding.

"They think they need to create a Turkish base, a social network. They get green cards, they become citizens. They have marriages, kids," said Yavuz, who is from Turkey. "You're seeing a long-term vision of creating a more powerful Turkish community in America."

[BlooInBloo]

44. Ah yes. Once again "true Americans" are under attack by brown people.

I guess that joke never gets old.

[mikeSchmuckabee]

35. Does Peggy Hill substitute in arizona now?

[hootinholler]

36. First they came for engineers

I am one and I've been screaming in the wilderness for 10 years now.

-Hoot

[harry_pothead]

42. Fuck that.

I am getting my credential in math, expanding to science. I don't have a job yet.

[MichiganVote]

45. And will anything be done? Hell no.