BALTIMORE, Maryland – The economic crisis may be ravaging most of America, but Filipino teachers here have apparently made their jobs “recession-proof” by burnishing their credentials and endearing themselves to students and school officials alike.

About a thousand Filipino teachers have been hired by the Baltimore public school system since 2003, the increments growing every year. Many of them filled a void in special education (SpEd) and certain subjects like Math, Science, and interestingly, English.

“Education doesn’t look like to be affected by the recession,” observed Genara “Nery” Conda, a SpEd teacher at the Violetville Elementary and Middle School.

“They really need children’s education and they won’t forego that, except maybe for parents who don’t want their children to study,” she told ABS-CBN’s Balitang America.

The Filipino mentors’ plight reflects, in large measure, the state of the Baltimore public school system. Enrolment posted its first growth in almost 40 years during the current school season.

Spending by Baltimore City public schools is expected to increase from about $1.2 billion in 2008 to nearly $1.3 billion for the 2010 fiscal year.

The school system has been insulated from the economic crisis, in part, by President Obama’s economic stimulus package. The funds, for instance, will restore at least $30 million that was supposed to be cut from the coming school season’s budget.

The stimulus fund is also expected to add $28 million for special education.

‘Our principal loves us’

“In my case, we’re doing okay,” declared Maria Theresa Pura, a Grade 1 teacher at the Terch Tilghman Elementary School.

“I think we’re lucky because our principal loves us. I’ve been here for almost three years. Our principal is not racist, he loves Filipinos,” she said.

Pura said there was another Filipino teacher working in her school.

“We don’t really feel the recession in the school I’m in,” Robert Feliciano averred.

He is a “life skills” teacher at the Coppin State University – part of the Baltimore public school system – where students are prepared for work.

“The wages are the same. Maybe you can feel it when you go to malls but if you ask me, there hasn’t really been any drastic effect on the lives of teachers,” Feliciano explained.

But he added they are concerned with their students. “Many of my students come from poor families so you could see that they’re affected. You can’t help but feel sad for families who lose their homes,” Feliciano said.

Feeling recession

Michelle Albor-Basabe is a cousin of another Baltimore City teacher, Irene Apao, who hanged herself two years ago.

“We can feel it, especially in the little things, like supplies,” she revealed.

Albor-Basabe teaches the 4th grade at the Patapso Elementary and Middle School.

“We don’t have substitute teachers anymore. There’s always a problem when we get sick, so what happens is that either the kids are distributed or the instruction is really affected,” she explained.

The teachers say rumors of lay-offs persist, but they point out they are just that, rumors. Some school principals have assured Filipino teachers they will keep their jobs. The Baltimore public school system gives their principals wide latitude to manage their budget, including hiring or firing teachers.

“What I heard from our HR officials is that teachers who are not so efficient in their jobs could be in danger of losing their position,” Conda explained.

Albor-Basabe said three teachers from her school, including a compatriot, were transferred to another school because authorities felt there weren’t enough students.

“There are a lot of changes going,” she averred.

More Pinoy teachers

She noted that when she moved to Baltimore from a teaching post at the Mecklenburg School in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2006, there were only three of them Filipinos in her current school.

But their numbers have since grown. And Albor-Basabe proclaims, all of them hail from Cebu.

The teachers converge in Conda’s home in Baltimore’s Halethorpe suburb for an outreach program of the Philippine Embassy.

Consul General Domingo Nolasco told ABS-CBN’s Balitang America that they were traveling throughout the Washington DC jurisdiction’s area to help Filipinos get their new Machine Readable Passport (MRP) that requires a personal appearance, and register for next year’s elections in the Philippines.

The Washington DC consular area extends from Maryland and Virginia, down to the Mississippi River region, Florida and the Caribbean.

The Philippine’s DC consulate is unique because it is responsible for nationals also living outside the US.

Nolasco said it was also an opportunity to see how our teachers were faring, he said.

He was happy to hear the teachers were faring well compared to Filipinos in other states.

If the recession is taking a toll on the teachers, it’s putting off plans such as buying a house like Feliciano.

“I try not to spend on things that are not necessary,” Pura averred.

Albor-Basabe is worried about her house in North Carolina, and is exploring the possibility of refinancing and getting a lower interest rate.

But one thing the teachers do not scrimp on – sending money to relatives in the Philippines.

“That is my priority. That’s the reason I’m here,” Pura stressed.

“We don’t have a choice,” Albor-Basabe chimes in.

“If we have to cut our budget it shouldn’t be the money to send home for the children. We can forego with the vacation but not the money of the Philippines. It’s not fair,” she stressed.