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Visa program draws foreign teachers to a rural Alaska school district facing a staffing crisis

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Visa program draws foreign teachers to a rural Alaska school district facing a staffing crisis

Due to the success of the State Department’s J-1 Visa program, the Kuspuk School District and other rural districts in Alaska are looking at ways to utilize other visa programs to keep foreign teachers in classrooms for longer.

Emily Schwing for NPR/Emily Schwing


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Emily Schwing for NPR/Emily Schwing

When special education teacher Dale Ebcas moved from his home in the Philippines to the tiny village of Upper Kalskag in Alaska back in the winter of 2020, the warmest layer he brought with him was a trench coat: “I was imagining a weather like, you know, Korea,” he laughs. “Because I’m a fan of watching Korean movies and it’s like, ‘oh, they’re just wearing trench coats
 it seems like it might work’.”

The average temperature in the Philippines’ coldest month is just about 78 degrees Fahrenheit. By contrast, the climate in Upper Kalskag is semi-arctic and snow can blanket the ground for more than half the year.

Needless to say, the trench coat didn’t cut it – Ebcas had to borrow a down jacket from the principal of the school where he’d been hired.

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His school district – the Kuspuk School District in Western Alaska – is about the same size as the state of Maryland. While the region is large, the student population is small: only 318 kids spread out across seven villages and none are connected by a road system. Here, like in many other rural school districts across America, it’s a struggle to fill nearly 40 teaching positions. That’s why the Kuspuk School District is bringing in educators like Ebcas from over 5,000 miles away – so many of them, in fact, that they now make up more than half the district’s teaching staff. It’s one of many school districts around the country who are addressing a shortage of teachers by relying on special visas that allow foreign teachers to come work in the U.S.

Ebcas is from Cagayan de Oro City, on the Philippine island of Mindanao – an island with a population of more than 26 million people. By contrast, there are just over 200 people in Upper Kalskag. While winters are long and the community is tiny, Ebcas says he enjoyed teaching in Alaska so much that he encouraged other teachers he knew from the Philippines to join him.

Second grade teacher Vanissa Carbon said that the adjustment to winter in Alaska took some patience.

Second grade teacher Vanissa Carbon said that the adjustment to winter in Alaska took some patience. “Oh my God, it’s so long,” she laughed. But she appreciates the community in Upper Kalskag for its similarities to Filipino culture.

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His aunt, Vanissa Carbon, now teaches second grade in Upper Kalskag. Although she says the winter in Upper Kalskag is long, she’s been pleasantly surprised by life here, where the population is predominantly Indigenous. “The people here are also like Filipinos – their culture is somehow the same in terms of close family ties, being together on occasions and helping each other,” says Carbon.

In the Kuspuk School District, teachers who come from the Philippines say they can make 15 times the amount of money they could at home, in addition to benefits. And they have access to teaching tools and technologies that aren’t as readily available in the Philippines.

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“I was quite fascinated with the fact that we have resources that are really readily accessible to students with special needs,” Ebcas says. He points to tools like a ‘talking pen,’ which assists students in learning to read, among other technologies. “These kinds of devices, we don’t have them in the Philippines. 
 It’s very expensive,” he says.

Dale Ebcas is from one of the most populated islands in the Philippines. He travelled more than 5,000 miles to teach special education at an elementary school in the village of Upper Kalskag, Alaska. Just over 200 people live there.

Dale Ebcas is from one of the most populated islands in the Philippines. He travelled more than 5,000 miles to teach special education at an elementary school in the village of Upper Kalskag, Alaska. Just over 200 people live there.

Emily Schwing for NPR


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Aguillard did her PhD research on the special education system in the Philippines. She says the requirements for students working toward teaching degrees there aren’t so different from what’s required in the U.S. “Their studies were purely 100 percent based on the U.S. model of students receiving special education services.” She says her research was in the back of her mind when her school district opted to pursue hiring foreign teachers.

Both Ebcas and Carbon are here on J-1 visitor visas, which are good for three years and can be extended for two more. The J-1 is a cultural exchange visa, and J-1 Visa holders often fill summer service positions related to the travel industry in Alaska. Childcare workers, including au pairs, also use J-1 Visas. Nationwide, there are more than 5,700 teachers in the US on J-1 Visas, according to the State Department. 91 of them are in Alaska.

“They do have program requirements where they do have to share not only their culture, but also learn about the culture that they are immersed in for their job,” says Superintendent Aguillard. “A big part of education in rural Alaska specifically is the emphasis on cultural heritage and keeping that culture alive, whether it be Alaska Native culture, or whatever culture an individual brings with them to the space they’re in,” she says.

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She says the teachers host Filipino-themed events in her school district. “A couple of our teachers have put on informative nights about the Philippines, so they’ll decorate the whole gym, they’ll cook food and do a lecture on Filipino cultural traditions,” she says.

Aguillard says J-1 Visas have had a dramatic positive impact in the Kuspuk School District. “We went from having zero applicants for positions for a year-long posting to over 100 applicants of extremely qualified people with experience and they’re wanting to come teach our students.”

Alaska's Kuspuk School District serves 318 students spread across a rural region equivalent to the size of the state of Maryland.

Alaska’s Kuspuk School District serves 318 students spread across a rural region equivalent to the size of the state of Maryland.

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Still, she says the teacher shortage is so dire that 20% of teaching positions at her schools were never filled this year – even with the teachers on J-1 Visas. Now the Kuspuk School District is looking at ways to keep foreign teachers on staff for more than five years. One option is the H-1B Visa – a specialty occupation visa that paves the way for immigration.

Kuspuk isn’t the only remote school district in Alaska utilizing state department visas to fill teaching positions. More than 350 miles south, the Kodiak Island Borough School District administration has hired an immigration lawyer to secure H-1B Visas and they’re also recruiting teachers in the Philippines.

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At an Alaska Senate Finance Committee hearing in March, Kodiak Island Borough School District Superintendent Cyndy Mika said the district now hosts its own job fair there. “This year, we went to both Manila and Cebu city,” she said. “We went to Cebu, because it’s rural remote and we knew that those are the types of teachers that would be better integrated into our community.”

In Upper Kalskag, Dale Ebcas extended his J-1 Visa for two additional years, but at the end of the next school year, his time in Alaska will run out as well. He’s won a number of awards for his work in Upper Kalskag, and is also among 20 teachers recognized in Alaska as a 2024 Educator of the Year.

He says it’s a disappointing reality of the J-1 Visa program that he can’t stay on to build on the work he’s already done. “I could have continued the things I do with the community and the kids, if only I could go beyond five years,” he said. “I consider this already as my family, the community here, the kids here.”

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EU capitals to back new term for Ursula von der Leyen

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EU capitals to back new term for Ursula von der Leyen

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EU leaders plan to approve Ursula von der Leyen for a second five-year term as president of the European Commission on Monday evening, as the bloc’s capitals choose continuity over change amid the war in Ukraine, tensions with China and political uncertainty in key countries. 

The heads of the EU’s 27 member states will use a private dinner in Brussels on Monday evening to give political backing to von der Leyen remaining in office, diplomats and officials from across the continent said, ahead of a formal rubber-stamping later this month.

“Nobody is discussing any other outcome,” said a senior EU diplomat who has spent the past week in discussions with key capitals. “For her, the die is cast.”

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Von der Leyen would then need to win a majority of the newly elected European parliament to remain as the EU’s most powerful official through 2029, running the bloc’s executive branch with the power to regulate the world’s largest single market, propose new legislation and steer the continent’s policy direction.

Her supporters are quietly confident of securing parliament’s assent, given the victory of her centre-right European People’s Party (EPP) in the EU elections this month, and the majority held by centrist parties in the chamber despite a surge in support for the far right.

Von der Leyen is respected for her leadership of the EU through the Covid-19 pandemic and the bloc’s response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But she has irked some capitals and many in her own commission with her centralised decision-making and a record of pushing the limits of her institutional powers. 

Her campaign stressed the value of stability, and played up the dangers of a change in leadership given the war in Ukraine and the uncertainty in the US-EU relationship that would result from a potential Donald Trump victory in US elections in November.

Her supporters have reinforced that message in the light of the political chaos unleashed in France by President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to call a snap election — a move that startled EU allies who worry about the future influence of the far-right in Paris.

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Monday’s private dinner will also feature discussions on who to select for president of the EU Council — the official who chairs meetings of bloc leaders — and for high representative, the bloc’s chief diplomat. 

Officials said Portugal’s former premier António Costa was the clear frontrunner for the former, succeeding Charles Michel, while Estonia’s Prime Minister Kaja Kallas was the most likely choice for the latter, taking over from Josep Borrell.

They cautioned, however, that on the eve of the meeting, neither choice was as definite as von der Leyen.

Von der Leyen, a former German defence minister who was an unheralded choice for the post in 2019, received a boost last week from the bloc’s three most powerful members — France, Germany and Italy — offering their tacit acceptance at the G7 summit.

Following the summit on Italy’s Apulian coast on Friday, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said they believed a deal would be struck at Monday’s dinner, while Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said she believed the EPP had the right “to propose a commission president”.

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The private dinner has been arranged as a prelude to a formal summit on June 27 and 28 at which a final agreement is due. A parliamentary vote on the next commission president is set for the week of July 15.

“Everyone wants to use [Monday] night to send a crystal clear message . . . so there’s no doubt over what the final decision will be,” said a second senior EU diplomat involved in the negotiations.

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A fast-moving wildfire spreads north of Los Angeles, forcing evacuations

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A fast-moving wildfire spreads north of Los Angeles, forcing evacuations

Firefighters work against the advancing Post Fire on Sunday in Gorman, Calif.

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A wildfire northwest of Los Angeles has burned more than 14,600 acres and forced the evacuation of about 1,200 people, California fire officials said.

The fast-growing blaze, which began around 2 p.m. on Saturday in Gorman, in Los Angeles County west of the I-5, was moving southeast toward Pyramid Lake, CalFire said on Sunday.

Fueled by strong winds and low humidity, the so-called Post Fire exploded overnight. It spread into Ventura County to the west, burning 2,000 acres there, largely in the Los Padres National Forest, LAist reported.

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The fire was 2% contained as of Sunday evening.

Complicating firefighting efforts, strong winds that had picked up on Sunday were expected to last until at least Monday. Wind gusts had reached 55 mph in the region and were forecast to reach up to 70 mph at night, the National Weather Service said Sunday afternoon, before decreasing throughout Monday.

"Conditions will be favorable for rapid rates of fire growth and spread, especially [Sunday night]," the NWS said.

Evacuation orders were in place for Hungry Valley Park — where state park officials evacuated some 1,200 people — and Pyramid Lake, which has been closed.

The cause of the fire is under investigation, according to CalFire. No injuries were reported.

California’s wildfire season is off to an aggressive start. This year so far, fires have consumed about 41,900 acres, higher than the average of 27,100 acres burned during the same period for the past five years, according to CalFire data.

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Rachel Reeves to seek ‘improved’ UK-EU trade terms if Labour wins election

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Rachel Reeves to seek ‘improved’ UK-EU trade terms if Labour wins election

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Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves would seek to break down EU trade barriers and secure billions of pounds through an early international investment summit if Labour wins the general election.

Reeves, in an interview with the Financial Times, signalled an ambitious push to revisit parts of Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal, including seeking closer alignment with EU rules in areas such as the chemicals sector and a better deal for workers in the City of London.

“We would look to improve our trading relationship with Europe, and do trade deals around the world,” she said, as she vowed that an incoming Labour government would “reset” Britain’s global image.

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Her comments signal that Labour wants to go further than previously thought in seeking better trade terms with the EU, tackling head-on the “adversarial” Conservative post-Brexit relationship with Brussels and ditching a Tory fixation on regulatory divergence.

“I don’t think anyone voted Leave because they were not happy that chemicals regulations were the same across Europe,” Reeves said. “When my constituency voted leave it was purely because of immigration.” 

Labour has been reluctant to talk about Brexit in the election campaign, but as polling day approaches — and with the party 20 points ahead of the Conservatives — Reeves and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer have given more glimpses of what they hope to achieve.

She also said Labour would take risks and was willing to “upset some people” to unlock the potential of the British economy, adding that she would use her political capital by pushing for growth rather than “having a fight about different taxes”. 

Ahead of the July 4 election, the Conservatives have warned of a Labour “tax trap”. But Reeves insisted the party could fund its priorities without resorting to tax rises on the wealthy, adding: “We’re not seeking a mandate to increase people’s taxes. We’re seeking a mandate to grow the economy.”

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On Brexit, any attempt to reopen what Starmer has called Johnson’s “botched” 2020 trade deal with the EU would be highly complicated; there is little appetite in Brussels for a renegotiation and long-standing opposition to the idea of Britain “cherry-picking” parts of the single market.

Reeves talked about a “bespoke” arrangement for the chemicals industry, which is in talks with the government about a new regulatory system intended to avoid £2bn of extra costs associated with having to register products with a new UK regime. 

She reiterated Labour’s existing red lines in the area, saying there would be no rejoining the single market or customs union, and that freedom of movement and a deal on youth mobility were off the cards. These will limit the scope of any future EU deal.

Reeves stressed the importance of seeking greater mutual recognition of professional qualifications with the EU, pointing to the benefits this would entail to the services sector, including financial services.

“The majority of people in the City have not regarded Brexit as being a great opportunity for their businesses,” she said, arguing that services and financial services were “pretty much excluded” from Johnson’s Brexit deal.

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But she said that Labour’s manifesto promise to seek a mutual recognition deal for professional qualifications with the EU, along with a veterinary deal and improved touring rights for UK artists were “examples” of what she wanted to achieve. “That’s not exclusive,” she said.

Reeves said she accepted the Office for Budget Responsibility’s assessment that Brexit would lop 4 per cent off Britain’s productivity potential.

The shadow chancellor, who on Monday will host senior business leaders at a meeting of her new “shadow” British Infrastructure Council, said she wanted a Labour government to hit the ground running and exploit the fact that the world would be looking afresh at the UK after election day. 

Among the further steps in the first 100 days of a Labour government would be an investment summit that aimed to lure in foreign investors who had been deterred by political instability in the UK, she said.

Reeves said she had spoken that morning to a business leader in the City who had said their global chief executive had been reluctant to come to a recent UK investment summit organised by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government. 

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“They said ‘What’s the point, we’re just getting a bit tired of what’s happening in the UK. Do I have to come to this?’,” Reeves said. “This is a real reset moment to a different way of doing government.”

She added: “It’s not just inviting businesses in for a summit, but really bringing them into the centre of government. I want to make the Treasury not just a tax-and-spending department but a department for growth.”

Reeves said there was “a role for investment” from countries including China and Saudi Arabia, but added that it was right that Sunak’s government had excluded Chinese investment from the rollout of broadband and future nuclear projects. 

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