Filipina teacher back in Baltimore
An update to an entry from a few weeks ago about Aileen Mercado, the Filipina teacher I'd profiled who was stuck in the Philippines because of a bureaucratic snafu renewing her visa. Her visa finally came through on Thursday, and she and her family caught a flight out on Friday. So at last, she's starting her new job as a special education teacher at Afya Public Charter School, which had to contract out for a substitute in her absence. And the Filipino teachers of Baltimore have their elected leader back.
My previous entry about this said there were four other Filipino teachers in the same situation. That's true, but I erroneously reported that they were all teachers in BCPSS. In fact, they work for a school district in California. (Leave it to Aileen to be organizing on behalf of teachers from all over the country, not just Baltimore.) They also got their visas at the end of last week and are en route back to their schools.
Baltimoresun.com's 
Comments
Thanks for your help with this, Sara. Aileen was back to school today. What a relief! What a journey! Aileen is obviously a terrific educator and a great person. We're glad she's back in Baltimore and back in the classroom. She's a very important part of our staff at Afya. Perhaps even more importantly, Aileen is a very important part of the educational community in our city.
Posted by: Will McKenna | October 6, 2008 7:51 PM
Will and Aileen:
So glad this has worked out. As if running a school and being a teacher isn't difficult enough...
I cannot imagine how hard the absence was for your school community and for Aileen. I know that you and your staff and community are rocking the ed world at SOLF.
If only it was as easy as running a school and not dealing with the other stuff. Hope this is a great week for all.
Posted by: Interesting Observations | October 6, 2008 10:08 PM
Where is my teacher? Still lost in the visa abyss I guess.
Posted by: vetern teacher | October 7, 2008 6:42 PM