Assemblywoman pushes measure to help extend foreign teachers’ stay in Nevada

State Assemblywoman Erica Mosca, a member of the assembly education committee, talks with student Luka Terry during an English class at Tonopah High School in Tonopah, Nev. Thursday, Jan. 26, 2022. The class is taught by a remote teacher due to staffing shortages. Savanna Muns is at left. Photo by Steve Marcus

Foreign educators who have built lives in Nevada are finding limited options when their teaching visas expire, prompting Nevada lawmakers to consider financial assistance for visa transitions.

A measure introduced this week by Assemblymember Erica Mosca, D-Las Vegas, would establish grants to help international teachers cover costs associated with converting their temporary J-1 visas into longer-term H1-B work visas.

The proposal aims to retain experienced educators who would otherwise be forced to leave the state’s school system.

J-1 visas allow temporary stays in the U.S. for “exchange visitor programs” that include teaching, according to the U.S. State Department. They are good for up to five years. H-1B visas allow temporary stays for workers in “specialty occupations.” They are good for up to six years.

Assembly Bill 472 would help teachers with less than a year remaining on their J-1 visas transition to H1-B visas.

The grant amounts were not specified in the bill; the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services fee schedule shows that fees vary, but can be hundreds or even thousands of dollars. And the process is lengthy, with wait times that could extend up to one year.

The bill would also cap the fees at $10,000 for the third-party J-1 visa sponsors and recruiters who facilitate the teachers’ stays and act as intermediaries with their employers.

Clark County School District has recruited international educators through the J-1 Exchange Visitor Teacher Program since 2017, district officials said.

The district targets recruitment of teachers specifically for critical shortage areas, including special education, elementary education, math and science.

Program regulations classify these educators as temporary workers, forcing the district to cap international hires at 175 teachers annually, officials said.

Mosca, a former CCSD teacher, said at a bill hearing that there’s a problem with sponsors that charge J-1 teachers exorbitant fees.

Edna Ingles, a special education teacher at Mojave High School who will reach five years in the U.S. in December, said she paid her agency $20,000, “which is a large fortune in the Philippines,” plus what she pays her sponsor annually.

“Speaking for my fellow Filipino teachers, we are compassionate, dedicated and nurturing,” she said. “We establish strong connections with our students, parents and school communities.”

A memo from the human resources department of the school district said it has adopted measures to ensure that J-1 candidates are “connected with equitable, supportive and thoroughly vetted visa sponsors.”

CCSD has said its J-1 hires are largely from the Philippines, where district officials have visited for recruiting and in-person interviews. There are about 450 employees on J-1 visas out of CCSD’s 40,000 employees.

“Their schools love them, their students love them, it’s cheaper than having a new teacher come, and it’s very hard to fill placements,” Mosca told the Assembly Committee on Education. “We should do something as a state to help teachers who want to stay.”

Mairi Nunag, a special education teacher at Wright Elementary School in southwest Las Vegas by way of the Philippines, said allowing teachers to stay longer maintains student well-being.

She said more than 100 of the J-1 visa teachers in CCSD are in high-need positions, such as specialized programs for students with autism.

“With over 700 vacancies in CCSD, losing J-1 teachers would mean that our students would lose educators who have the necessary knowledge, skills and dedication as well as earned experience to deliver quality education,” Nunag said.

She added that the J-1 program can also be abused, with unscrupulous third-party sponsors who charge excessive fees committing coercion, misrepresentation and debt bondage while taking advantage of high teacher vacancies.

“Labor exploitation occurs more than you might think, and in places you may not expect,” she said.

The committee did not take immediate action on the bill.