SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — In 2023, when Rob Coverdale took on the role of superintendent at the K-12 Crow Creek Tribal School in South Dakota, he was faced with 15 vacant teaching positions. He filled these vacancies within nine months, primarily employing Filipino teachers through H-1B visas.
“We’ve hired H-1B teachers because we simply didn’t have other applicants for those positions," Coverdale stated. "They aren’t taking jobs away from Americans; they're filling roles we couldn’t fill otherwise.”
However, a newly instituted $100,000 fee for H-1B visa applications poses a significant challenge for rural areas like Crow Creek, which depend on immigrant educators and medical professionals to meet essential staffing needs.
The fee was introduced by the Trump administration on September 19, justified by claims that it would prevent employers from hiring cheaper overseas talent instead of American workers. Despite this, it won't apply to existing visa holders, and exemptions can be requested.
While the H-1B visa program is mostly known for benefiting technology workers from countries like India, educators and healthcare professionals are increasingly reliant on these visas as rural areas struggle to fill critical roles. Over the past decade, serious shortages have arisen, with one in eight public school positions currently vacant across the U.S.
Organizations including the National Rural Education Association argue that the newly imposed fee disproportionately impacts rural communities, potentially pricing them out of the ability to hire qualified educators. Melissa Sadorf, the association’s executive director, highlighted how the fee could equate to the salary of one or even two teachers, rendering such hires impossible under tight rural budgets.
In retaliation, a coalition of healthcare providers and educators has initiated a lawsuit to contest the visa fee, asserting it could fundamentally disrupt staffing for schools and hospitals reliant on this immigration pathway. Coverdale's experience with hiring immigrant teachers illustrates a growing trend where rural schools increasingly depend on international talent to fill specialized teaching roles, especially in high-need subject areas.
As Coverdale puts it, “The more remote a location, the harder it is to attract staff.” His recent hires include Mary Joy Ponce-Torres, who previously taught in the Philippines and now adapts to her new environment while helping fill a role that would be difficult to sustain without the H-1B visa.
As the landscape changes with the new visa fee, small rural communities may need to reconsider their resource allocation for staffing, risking a future where education quality diminishes unless solutions are found to support hiring within these areas.
