6 ms·

But evidently they don’t want to move to rural America.

by culopatin 3mo ago

jojobas 3mo ago
Hardly an argument to import teachers on work visas.
- bijowo1676 3mo ago
  so you want to leave rural children without teachers?
  - SecretDreams 3mo ago
    I think the commenter is volunteering to go themselves.
  - jojobas 3mo ago
    [flagged]
    - bijowo1676 3mo ago
      I find your reference to "third worlders" a bit offensive and racist. "First worlders" (whatever that means for you) also do apply for H1B visas, just FYI. If you imply that teachers on visa are somehow inferior or worse then citizen teachers (non-existent btw since noone is volunteering for Alaska gig), you are either being terribly misinformed or just bigoted.
      - throwaway85825 3mo ago
        With foreign accents its often hard to understand what's being said, and harder when there's a whole class and the student doesnt want to be disruptive.
        bijowo1676 3mo ago
        You are being bigoted or ignorant again. There is a whole meme of people with Indian accents, explaining things on YouTube, and Americans genuinely appreciating their lessons because American teachers with perfect English like yours have failed to explain the subject properly
        throwaway85825 3mo ago
        Again? I'm not the parent commentor. I find it harder to learn if I have to decipher the words not the content. This is true for lots of different accents. This is a common experience for those not overindexing on ethnonarcissism.
        throwawaytea 3mo ago
        There's also a huge group of people that instantly click away from a video as soon as they hear an indian voice. They won't show up in the comments.
        SilverElfin 3mo ago
        I don’t find it hard to understand foreign accents of all kinds. Why do you? It seems like a basic part of English comprehension. Obviously large companies don’t have issues with their CEOs being Indians with accents. They’re speaking to their employees, board, and the public and it’s not an issue.
      - jojobas 3mo ago
        India accounts for 70% of H1B against say UK, France or Japans 1% each. Alaskan school teachers are paid below Alaskan median wage. If you support importing workforce to be fill less-than-median-paying roles you haven't thought about it very well (chances are you never will). >racist bigoted These are not magic words that somehow make your argument sound. Delegating bringing up children to underpaid workers from foreign cultures, desperate enough to consider this deal an improvement, cannot end well.
- culopatin 3mo ago
  It’s a matter of incentives. The avg American grows up with certain “American dream” that clashes with that rural America life. There is no incentive to leave everything behind and go be basically alone. Immigrants have a “lower” baseline or just want the experience of being abroad, or are willing to put up with rural living because from wherever they are, it looks better. You’d have to entice a city teacher to move to rural America. You’ll say “pay them more”. But who are you taxing more? Because no one is happy when the gov starts looking at being more efficient and starts laying off some admin people either.
  - jojobas 3mo ago
    Teachers were like 4% of all H1Bs. Using CS/AI H1B proceeds to increase pay to rural teachers more seems like a no-brainer. The current Alaskan teacher pay seems to be below median, which seems like an good threshold to disallow H1B workers altogether.
    - bijowo1676 3mo ago
      Have you considered the possibility that H1B teachers are simply better (at any price point) ? H1B proceeds go to fund USCIS and its staff, they do not go towards local school districts. This whole discussion is full of racists and haters who dont know anything about the subject beyond clickbait titles
      - NoMoreNicksLeft 3mo ago
        >Have you considered the possibility that H1B teachers are simply better (at any price point) ? That sounds sort of racist, actually.
        bijowo1676 3mo ago
        It is not racist, but it is true. The Education major is one of the bottom majors, Americans with the lowest grades and lowest SAT scores go on to become public school teachers. and it is well known information among Americans themselves. https://x.com/marcportermagee/status/1954326425072546055/photo/1 https://x.com/marcportermagee/status/1954326425072546055/pho... https://reports.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/2023-total-group-sat-suite-of-assessments-annual-report%20ADA.pdf https://reports.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/2023-total-group-... The average SAT for Education majors: 1023 It’s ranked 24th, behind Communications (19th), Library Science (13th), and English (11th). The top major: Math. while foreigners on H1B are top percentile in academic performance and scoring and generally H1B attract top 1% talent from the global talent pool, especially given there are only like 60k visas issued per year. People who look at the stats objectively should be the first ones to advocate for more H1B teachers, if that meant children would get dramatically better education
- bluegatty 3mo ago
  It's literally exactly the argument. If teachers were underpaid - it would be a poor argument. But if there's an acute shortage of 'key' workers in jobs that require education, for jobs where wages are materially above market pricing - then this is where you want H1B type programs. The idea is that it should not harm the local market for labour, and it's usually not reasonable to expect market wages to be a radical departure from where they would be otherwise. Aka - if teachers are earning $80K on average, then it's not going to work out i some small towns need to pay $150K to bring people in from the city, it also creates problems for locals. Special worker programs can be well utilized here in the right circumstances. The 'bad' scenario is when labour market is flooded where those jobs would otherwise go to locals. Tata/Infosys (generic IT workers) are alone probably 80% of the problem.
  - AngryData 3mo ago
    This would hold more weight if teachers in rural areas weren't getting paid less than half your thought experiment average.
    - bluegatty 3mo ago
      Your little comment would have more weight it had any factual substance. Average teachers salary in US is 75K and it's over 100K in California. [1]https://www.nea.org/nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/teacher-pay-2026?utm_source=chatgpt.com https://www.nea.org/nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/teac...
      - AngryData 3mo ago
        Averages can be deceiving when you have large outliers boosting it. A median would be more enlightening. Also California is one of the most expensive states in the US and the average starting pay for California teachers is 58k. And for that be the average there are people making significantly less than that which means many are making barely above the California minimum wage.
  - jojobas 3mo ago
pseudo0 3mo ago
Rural Alaska... Just about the most inhospitable climate in the US, remote, and with a very high cost of living. Teachers can find work just about anywhere, they have little incentive to stay in Alaska. The solution for this is simple - pay them more. There are plenty of recently graduated teachers who would work in Alaska for a few years if it paid off their student loans or let them save up a down payment on a house.
- culopatin 3mo ago
  And who pays that extra? Who are you taxing in the middle of nowhere?
  - Analemma_ 3mo ago
    The Alaska Permanent Fund from their oil revenue is worth $90 billion and they send every resident an annual $1,000 check on top of heavily subsidized fuel. I think they can pay competitive teacher salaries.
    - Brybry 3mo ago
      Alaska is already in the top 8 median elementary school teacher salaries nationally, with ~$79,260 in 2025 compared to 2024 national median of $62,310 (couldn't find 2025). They were #2 and #3 in education spending as a percent of state GDP in 2024 and 2025. [1][2][3] It would need to be more than just competitive, it would probably need to be doctor-tier "I'm giving up my life plans for this salary in Alaska" level (which is what I assume it's like for foreign labor). It's possible they can afford it. I would think they would need to double or more their education spending (~$2.77 billion (24/25), ~45% -> wages) state wide which would be most of what the Alaska Permanent Fund pays out per year ($3-4 billion) [4][5] I imagine it would be politically very unpopular for obvious reasons. [1] https://www.bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/kindergarten-and-elementary-school-teachers.htm https://www.bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/kinde... [2] https://data.bls.gov/oesprofile/?major_group=250000&occupation=252021&measure=13&areas=STATE https://data.bls.gov/oesprofile/?major_group=250000&occupati... (increase records to see Alaska) [3] https://www.schoolfinancedata.org/annual-reports/2024 https://www.schoolfinancedata.org/annual-reports/2024 https://www.schoolfinancedata.org/annual-reports/2025 https://www.schoolfinancedata.org/annual-reports/2025 [4] https://alaskapolicyforum.org/2025/06/alaskas-schools-are-rolling-in-cash-so-why-arent-the-results-better/ https://alaskapolicyforum.org/2025/06/alaskas-schools-are-ro... [5] https://apfc.org/the-fund/fund-structure/ https://apfc.org/the-fund/fund-structure/

But evidently they don’t want to move to rural America.

jojobas 3mo ago

Hardly an argument to import teachers on work visas.

bijowo1676 3mo ago
so you want to leave rural children without teachers?
- SecretDreams 3mo ago
  I think the commenter is volunteering to go themselves.
- jojobas 3mo ago
  [flagged]
  - bijowo1676 3mo ago
    I find your reference to "third worlders" a bit offensive and racist. "First worlders" (whatever that means for you) also do apply for H1B visas, just FYI. If you imply that teachers on visa are somehow inferior or worse then citizen teachers (non-existent btw since noone is volunteering for Alaska gig), you are either being terribly misinformed or just bigoted.
    - throwaway85825 3mo ago
      With foreign accents its often hard to understand what's being said, and harder when there's a whole class and the student doesnt want to be disruptive.
      - bijowo1676 3mo ago
        You are being bigoted or ignorant again. There is a whole meme of people with Indian accents, explaining things on YouTube, and Americans genuinely appreciating their lessons because American teachers with perfect English like yours have failed to explain the subject properly
        throwaway85825 3mo ago
        Again? I'm not the parent commentor. I find it harder to learn if I have to decipher the words not the content. This is true for lots of different accents. This is a common experience for those not overindexing on ethnonarcissism.
        throwawaytea 3mo ago
        There's also a huge group of people that instantly click away from a video as soon as they hear an indian voice. They won't show up in the comments.
      - SilverElfin 3mo ago
        I don’t find it hard to understand foreign accents of all kinds. Why do you? It seems like a basic part of English comprehension. Obviously large companies don’t have issues with their CEOs being Indians with accents. They’re speaking to their employees, board, and the public and it’s not an issue.
    - jojobas 3mo ago
      India accounts for 70% of H1B against say UK, France or Japans 1% each. Alaskan school teachers are paid below Alaskan median wage. If you support importing workforce to be fill less-than-median-paying roles you haven't thought about it very well (chances are you never will). >racist bigoted These are not magic words that somehow make your argument sound. Delegating bringing up children to underpaid workers from foreign cultures, desperate enough to consider this deal an improvement, cannot end well.
culopatin 3mo ago
It’s a matter of incentives. The avg American grows up with certain “American dream” that clashes with that rural America life. There is no incentive to leave everything behind and go be basically alone. Immigrants have a “lower” baseline or just want the experience of being abroad, or are willing to put up with rural living because from wherever they are, it looks better. You’d have to entice a city teacher to move to rural America. You’ll say “pay them more”. But who are you taxing more? Because no one is happy when the gov starts looking at being more efficient and starts laying off some admin people either.
- jojobas 3mo ago
  Teachers were like 4% of all H1Bs. Using CS/AI H1B proceeds to increase pay to rural teachers more seems like a no-brainer. The current Alaskan teacher pay seems to be below median, which seems like an good threshold to disallow H1B workers altogether.
  - bijowo1676 3mo ago
    Have you considered the possibility that H1B teachers are simply better (at any price point) ? H1B proceeds go to fund USCIS and its staff, they do not go towards local school districts. This whole discussion is full of racists and haters who dont know anything about the subject beyond clickbait titles
    - NoMoreNicksLeft 3mo ago
      >Have you considered the possibility that H1B teachers are simply better (at any price point) ? That sounds sort of racist, actually.
      - bijowo1676 3mo ago
        It is not racist, but it is true. The Education major is one of the bottom majors, Americans with the lowest grades and lowest SAT scores go on to become public school teachers. and it is well known information among Americans themselves. https://x.com/marcportermagee/status/1954326425072546055/photo/1 https://x.com/marcportermagee/status/1954326425072546055/pho... https://reports.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/2023-total-group-sat-suite-of-assessments-annual-report%20ADA.pdf https://reports.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/2023-total-group-... The average SAT for Education majors: 1023 It’s ranked 24th, behind Communications (19th), Library Science (13th), and English (11th). The top major: Math. while foreigners on H1B are top percentile in academic performance and scoring and generally H1B attract top 1% talent from the global talent pool, especially given there are only like 60k visas issued per year. People who look at the stats objectively should be the first ones to advocate for more H1B teachers, if that meant children would get dramatically better education
bluegatty 3mo ago
It's literally exactly the argument. If teachers were underpaid - it would be a poor argument. But if there's an acute shortage of 'key' workers in jobs that require education, for jobs where wages are materially above market pricing - then this is where you want H1B type programs. The idea is that it should not harm the local market for labour, and it's usually not reasonable to expect market wages to be a radical departure from where they would be otherwise. Aka - if teachers are earning $80K on average, then it's not going to work out i some small towns need to pay $150K to bring people in from the city, it also creates problems for locals. Special worker programs can be well utilized here in the right circumstances. The 'bad' scenario is when labour market is flooded where those jobs would otherwise go to locals. Tata/Infosys (generic IT workers) are alone probably 80% of the problem.
- AngryData 3mo ago
  This would hold more weight if teachers in rural areas weren't getting paid less than half your thought experiment average.
  - bluegatty 3mo ago
    Your little comment would have more weight it had any factual substance. Average teachers salary in US is 75K and it's over 100K in California. [1]https://www.nea.org/nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/teacher-pay-2026?utm_source=chatgpt.com https://www.nea.org/nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/teac...
    - AngryData 3mo ago
      Averages can be deceiving when you have large outliers boosting it. A median would be more enlightening. Also California is one of the most expensive states in the US and the average starting pay for California teachers is 58k. And for that be the average there are people making significantly less than that which means many are making barely above the California minimum wage.
- jojobas 3mo ago

pseudo0 3mo ago

Rural Alaska... Just about the most inhospitable climate in the US, remote, and with a very high cost of living. Teachers can find work just about anywhere, they have little incentive to stay in Alaska. The solution for this is simple - pay them more. There are plenty of recently graduated teachers who would work in Alaska for a few years if it paid off their student loans or let them save up a down payment on a house.

culopatin 3mo ago
And who pays that extra? Who are you taxing in the middle of nowhere?
- Analemma_ 3mo ago
  The Alaska Permanent Fund from their oil revenue is worth $90 billion and they send every resident an annual $1,000 check on top of heavily subsidized fuel. I think they can pay competitive teacher salaries.
  - Brybry 3mo ago
    Alaska is already in the top 8 median elementary school teacher salaries nationally, with ~$79,260 in 2025 compared to 2024 national median of $62,310 (couldn't find 2025). They were #2 and #3 in education spending as a percent of state GDP in 2024 and 2025. [1][2][3] It would need to be more than just competitive, it would probably need to be doctor-tier "I'm giving up my life plans for this salary in Alaska" level (which is what I assume it's like for foreign labor). It's possible they can afford it. I would think they would need to double or more their education spending (~$2.77 billion (24/25), ~45% -> wages) state wide which would be most of what the Alaska Permanent Fund pays out per year ($3-4 billion) [4][5] I imagine it would be politically very unpopular for obvious reasons. [1] https://www.bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/kindergarten-and-elementary-school-teachers.htm https://www.bls.gov/ooh/education-training-and-library/kinde... [2] https://data.bls.gov/oesprofile/?major_group=250000&occupation=252021&measure=13&areas=STATE https://data.bls.gov/oesprofile/?major_group=250000&occupati... (increase records to see Alaska) [3] https://www.schoolfinancedata.org/annual-reports/2024 https://www.schoolfinancedata.org/annual-reports/2024 https://www.schoolfinancedata.org/annual-reports/2025 https://www.schoolfinancedata.org/annual-reports/2025 [4] https://alaskapolicyforum.org/2025/06/alaskas-schools-are-rolling-in-cash-so-why-arent-the-results-better/ https://alaskapolicyforum.org/2025/06/alaskas-schools-are-ro... [5] https://apfc.org/the-fund/fund-structure/ https://apfc.org/the-fund/fund-structure/