We Are Taking Action to Support International Educators NOW

Background:

In January a WTU Member reached out and talked to Laura Fuchs about DCPS green card policy and how DCPS seems to have discontinued it. She explained how the H1B process worked. As more teachers began registering their concerns Educators Taking Action convened a listening session on March 4th where we came to a clear understanding of what was happening and made a plan of action.

As a result of that meeting and working together we have:

1. Started a Whats App group with close to 100 members who are organizing together

2. Met, or have scheduled meetings on the books, with every single Council Member and/or their staff

3. Proposed a clear strategy to the Council Members to secure funding for the Green Card program for SY25-26

4. Wrote, proposed and passed a Resolution in the WTU Representative Assembly in the March meeting in support of International Educators (see below)

5. Held follow up meetings to move additional strategies forward.

6. Members of the group got a Washington Post news story

7. Wrote a letter for educators, parents and the community to send to leaders (see below)

8. Have raised the issue in Ward Education Councils and other community based meetings

9. Testified at the DC State Board of Education on April 23rd (see below)

10. Are planning further testimony preparation for the DC State Board of Education and DC Council Budget Hearings, DCPS and more

    
    

This is the kind of leadership - one that is rooted in members' concerns and includes them in the planning and execution of all actions - that you can expect on a wider scale from Educators Taking Action.

Let us know if you support our slate

The testimony below was given before the DC State Board of Education Public Meeting By: Laura Fuchs on April 23, 2025

Laura Fuchs Full Testimony in front of the DC State Board of Education, Thursday April 23, 2025, on DCPS decision to unilaterally end their Green Card Policy program for over 200 H1B educators working for DCPS on an H1B Visa.

My name is Laura Fuchs. I am a Ward 5 resident, DC Public School Social Studies Teacher since 2007, an executive board member of the Washington Teacher’s Union, Chair of DC-CORE and a board member of Empower DC.

In October of 2024, DCPS secretly made a unilateral decision to end the Green Card policy that they had previously been using as part of the end result of the H1B program that they began around 2019/2020. The H1B program was meant to started by DCPS to recruit teachers from abroad to fill persistent vacancies, especially around our Language Acquisition Teachers, Dual Language Programs, Foreign Language programs but also other persistently hard to fill positions like Math and Special Education. It started relatively small and has been steadily increasing to where now between 200-300 teachers are in DCPS on an H1B visa.

Let us be perfectly clear. DCPS is pulling the rug out from underneath the feet of people that have uprooted their lives, come to DC, are teaching our students, becoming valued members of the community, with, as you will see, almost zero communication, zero compassion and zero empathy. This affects their families, their students, their school communities and more. International educators have bought homes, sent their kids to public schools and have kids in college on scholarship, all of that will be ripped away because of this one decision. They are providing a vital service to our schools, if they weren’t DCPS wouldn’t be constantly expanding their program. And nobody would be taking DCPS up on an H1B if there wasn’t at least a pathway to a Green Card, it makes no sense, it is temporary.

An H1B Visa is a temporary work permit that is filled out by an employer, lasts for 3 years and can be renewed one time. After 6 years the H1B can no longer be used. This means anyone in the country will either have to get a Green Card or a different Visa to prolong their stay. When they hired teachers on the H1B DCPS clearly communicated to them that if they worked hard, got good evaluation scores and got a recommendation from their Principal they would be eligible through a competitive process.

Two cohorts of teachers have gone through this process and are just starting to get their Green Cards now. Because the process can take 1-2 years to complete, teachers who were about to be eligible began reaching out to DCPS asking what their next steps were to begin the application for a Green Card. At first they received no information, radio silence. Then there were rumblings that something might be changing. By January we were told that back in October DCPS decided to pause the program indefinitely. The stated reasoning at first was due to a lack of funding.

Those who were alarmed that their plans to stay teaching in DCPS were coming to a very sudden halt tried to problem solve. DCPS communicated it costs ~$10,000 per teacher. So international teachers reached out to their principals, some of whom said they would be willing to use local school funds. DCPS said that wouldn’t work. So was it the money? Upon further probing we were informed that it is really a paperwork issue, there is too much paperwork and that it wasn’t very well organized in the past, so it is too much to be done by the one lawyer currently assigned.

Currently we are reaching out to the DC Council to see what we can do to secure funding. This is going alright. We have met with 9/13 and have meetings on the books for those remaining. We hope to secure between $200-300k for SY25-26 that is statutorily designated for the Green Card Program. This could then be used to potentially hire another attorney, contract with an outside supporting firm, or do whatever needs to be done to restart this important program.

We are asking that you support us in this work. Reach out to your aligned Council Member and support our calls – I have included a support letter that can be sent as well as the Washington Teachers’ Union Resolution which could potentially be adapted by the DC State Board of Education for your own purposes.

Do not let DCPS be this callous to educators who have already given so much to this District. Do not let DCPS obey in advance.

Email to leadership - Please copy and paste and send your own!

To: lewis.ferebee@k12.dc.gov, muriel.bowser@dc.gov, paul.kihn@dc.gov, pmendelson@dccouncil.gov, kmcduffie@dccouncil.gov, abonds@dccouncil.gov, rwhite@dccouncil.gov, chenderson@dccouncil.gov, bnadeau@dccouncil.gov, bpinto@dccouncil.gov, mfrumin@dccouncil.gov, jlewisgeorge@dccouncil.gov, zparker@dccouncil.gov, callen@dccouncil.gov, wfelder@dccouncil.gov

Subject: Support the International Teachers of DCPS and renew the Green Card Policy Now!

Chancellor, Mayor Bowser, DC Council Members,

My name is [INSERT NAME] and I am a [INSERT: PARENT, COLLEAGUE, STUDENT, CONCERNED COMMUNITY MEMBER] who supports the International Teachers in District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS).  Despite the initial encouragement from DCPS to apply for Green Cards, the district's Green Card sponsorship policy has been suspended, leaving many of them in a state of limbo.

There are approximately 300 international teachers employed by DCPS under H1B visas. Recently, around 40 teachers were supposed to be part of the third cohort for Green Card sponsorship, but due to the suspension of the policy, their futures are now uncertain.

The impact of not resuming the Green Card sponsorship policy will be significant, not only for the individual teachers but also for the schools and communities they serve. They have established roots in this country, and their families are being affected. They are not just teachers; we are also parents, spouses, and community members who have made significant contributions to the District of Columbia.

Time is of the essence. The Green Card application process takes approximately 2.5 to 3 years, and some are already in our 4th year of employment under the H1B visa program, which has a maximum validity period of 6 years. This means that they have a limited window of opportunity to apply for Green Card sponsorship, and any further delays will put their futures at risk.

We understand that the reasons for suspending the policy may be complex, but we urge you to consider the long-term benefits of retaining experienced and dedicated teachers in our schools. Hiring and training new teachers every year is not only costly but also disrupts the continuity of education for our students.

We are calling on the DC Council, Mayor, DCPS Chancellor and DCPS to reconsider the Green Card sponsorship policy and work with its educators to find a solution.

They have given their best to our communities, and we believe that it is essential to recognize the value of their contributions.

Thank you for your attention to this pressing issue. We look forward to a quick resolution.

Sincerely,

WTU Resolution: WTU Supports Our International Educators

Passed the WTU Representative Assembly Unanimously March 11, 2025

WHEREAS, the Washington Teachers Union (WTU) recognizes the importance of all our educators to our school communities, students and families; and

WHEREAS, we have a responsibility to support each and every dedicated educator; and

WHEREAS, DC Public Schools began an H1B Visa program to recruit talented educators from around the world to support our students and fill roles that often sat vacant, which has recruited over 200 educators into DCPS; and

WHEREAS, educators who came to DCPS through the H1B Visa program had reasonable expectations and had been communicated with that they would have the opportunity to be sponsored for a green card; and 

WHEREAS, DCPS suddenly stopped sponsoring green cards without providing any communication or warning to those already well into the tenure of the H1B visas without any indication of if or when it will be resumed; and

WHEREAS, this leaves many educators with the prospect of potentially having to leave the United States without any guarantee of return for at least 1 year, uprooting their lives, families and investments in the area with almost no warning.

RESOLVED, the WTU demands that the Mayor and DCPS resume the green card program as had been previously offered immediately and improve all communications around the entire process; and be it further

RESOLVED, The WTU will continue to use it assets and connections to assist educators navigating this process; and be it further

RESOLVED, The WTU will continue to pressure the Mayor, the DME, the DC Council, and DC Public Schools to resume the green card policy immediately; and be it further

RESOLVED, The WTU will continue to support all educators with public statements, FAQs, action guides, contacts in the union designated to support and answer questions and any other resource it can to assist our valued colleagues.