Filipino-American educator named member of US task force
Dr. Ligaya Avenida
MANILA, Philippines—A Filipino-American educator has been named as a member of a panel of experts who will formulate uniform standards for recruitment of teachers in the United States.
Dr. Ligaya Avenida, a pioneer in bilingual education, will serve the newly-formed US Task Force on International Teachers, a joint initiative by the US Department of Public Health Services and the George Washington University.
“We are pleased at the invitation to the Task Force because as the recruitment of teachers and other professionals continue to grow, there needs to be some standards that will define many of the process and procedures and apply them consistently to everyone,” Avenida told INQUIRER.net in an email interview.
She said the task force hopes to address issues involving recruitment of teachers, including procedures, fees and the welfare of foreign educators hired to work in the US.
“The goal of the Task Force is to establish these guidelines so that we can eliminate many recruitment practices that do not help in the successful migration of Filipino professionals to the United States,” said Avenida, who worked for 30 years at the San Francisco Unified School District, rising from a teacher to assistant superintendent and director of the human resources office.
Avenida, executive vice president for recruiting and education of the US-based Jeepnee Inc., has been doing international recruiting for over 10 years.
“To date we have brought approximately 2,000 teachers to various school districts across the United States,” she said. “They are employed by the districts and are paid the same salary and benefits as every other teacher in the district.”
They earn an average of $40,000 to $65,000 per year depending on their education degree, teaching experience and district salary schedule, said Avenida.
She said the terms of employment are tied to work visa and subject to renewal depending on work performance.
“There are a number of criteria for selecting and hiring of teachers, their educational degree, experience in teaching, knowledge of current best practices in teaching, attitudes, beliefs and a strong commitment to helping children learn,” said Avenida.
She said US education officials have high regard for Filipino teachers.
“(D)istrict administrators, principals and superintendents of schools have consistently praised the Filipino teachers for their competence and excellent work,” said Avenida, who founded the Avenida International Consultants when she retired from the district 10 years ago to address the shortage of teachers in Math, Science and Special Education across school districts in the US.
“Their work and accomplishments have been validated not only by their superiors but by their peers, through the teacher unions who have enthusiastically brought them into their membership and in the case of the teachers in Baltimore City Schools have even placed them in leadership positions in their organization,” she said.
Avenida welcomed the US move to formulate a recruitment standard for educators.
“Uniform standards for the recruitment of teachers are long overdue and are most certainly a step in the right direction, and I am proud to have been invited to serve on the Task Force and look forward to being an active participant” she said. With a report from Esther M. Chavez in San Francisco, California
Dr. Ligaya Avenida, a pioneer in bilingual education, will serve the newly-formed US Task Force on International Teachers, a joint initiative by the US Department of Public Health Services and the George Washington University.
“We are pleased at the invitation to the Task Force because as the recruitment of teachers and other professionals continue to grow, there needs to be some standards that will define many of the process and procedures and apply them consistently to everyone,” Avenida told INQUIRER.net in an email interview.
She said the task force hopes to address issues involving recruitment of teachers, including procedures, fees and the welfare of foreign educators hired to work in the US.
“The goal of the Task Force is to establish these guidelines so that we can eliminate many recruitment practices that do not help in the successful migration of Filipino professionals to the United States,” said Avenida, who worked for 30 years at the San Francisco Unified School District, rising from a teacher to assistant superintendent and director of the human resources office.
Avenida, executive vice president for recruiting and education of the US-based Jeepnee Inc., has been doing international recruiting for over 10 years.
“To date we have brought approximately 2,000 teachers to various school districts across the United States,” she said. “They are employed by the districts and are paid the same salary and benefits as every other teacher in the district.”
They earn an average of $40,000 to $65,000 per year depending on their education degree, teaching experience and district salary schedule, said Avenida.
She said the terms of employment are tied to work visa and subject to renewal depending on work performance.
“There are a number of criteria for selecting and hiring of teachers, their educational degree, experience in teaching, knowledge of current best practices in teaching, attitudes, beliefs and a strong commitment to helping children learn,” said Avenida.
She said US education officials have high regard for Filipino teachers.
“(D)istrict administrators, principals and superintendents of schools have consistently praised the Filipino teachers for their competence and excellent work,” said Avenida, who founded the Avenida International Consultants when she retired from the district 10 years ago to address the shortage of teachers in Math, Science and Special Education across school districts in the US.
“Their work and accomplishments have been validated not only by their superiors but by their peers, through the teacher unions who have enthusiastically brought them into their membership and in the case of the teachers in Baltimore City Schools have even placed them in leadership positions in their organization,” she said.
Avenida welcomed the US move to formulate a recruitment standard for educators.
“Uniform standards for the recruitment of teachers are long overdue and are most certainly a step in the right direction, and I am proud to have been invited to serve on the Task Force and look forward to being an active participant” she said. With a report from Esther M. Chavez in San Francisco, California
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