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By Billal Rahman
Immigration Reporter
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Rural and under-resourced school districts across the United States are bracing for potential staffing disruptions as changes to the federal H-1B visa program raise the cost and uncertainty of hiring international teachers.
School leaders and experts warn that the changes could make it significantly harder for districts already struggling with teacher shortages to recruit educators in high-need subjects such as science, mathematics, and special education.
Dr. Madeline Aguillard, superintendent of the Kuspuk School District in western Alaska, said roughly 60 percent of the district’s teachers over the past five years have been international educators, filling hard-to-staff positions in math, science, and special education.
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"For rural school districts like Kuspuk in western Alaska, international teachers working through programs like H-1B visas are not a convenience. They are a necessity," Agulliard told Newsweek.
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The Reasons For The Visa Change
The concern follows a federal rule issued by the Trump administration that imposes a $100,000 fee on new H‑1B visa petitions and introduces stricter wage requirements for employers sponsoring foreign workers, dramatically increasing the cost of bringing educators and other professionals into the United States.
The administration said the policy was intended to prevent companies from replacing American workers with lower-paid foreign labor, particularly in the technology sector.
Supporters argued the changes would reduce reliance on foreign labor and protect opportunities for U.S. workers, while critics warned the measures could worsen talent shortages, noting that there are not enough qualified Americans to fill many specialized roles and that limiting access to international professionals could undermine U.S. competitiveness in key industries.
Education officials argue that schools, unlike many private companies, rely on the visas not to cut costs but to fill positions that have proven difficult to staff domestically.
More than 2,300 educators working across 500 public school districts hold H-1B visas, according to a 2025 analysis by the National Education Association.
Although these teachers make up a small share of the national workforce, districts say they frequently occupy roles that are difficult to fill, especially in rural or economically disadvantaged communities.
Invested In Communities
The Dallas Independent School District leads with 157 teachers approved for H‑1B status, according to the National Education Association. Other districts with high numbers of H‑1B educators include Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools with 79 approvals, District of Columbia Public Schools with 62, and the New York City Department of Education with 56.
“These teachers have become deeply invested in our communities,” Aguillard said. Retention rates have increased dramatically, with nearly 90 percent of international teachers staying long-term, compared with about 53 percent before the district began recruiting internationally, she added. “That stability has helped schools that historically struggled with constant turnover.”
"Programs like the H-1B visa have been one of the few pathways that allow districts like ours to recruit and retain experienced teachers and maintain stability in our classrooms," Aguillard said. "The H-1B visa program helps districts like ours recruit qualified teachers when we cannot find applicants domestically."
Experts say rural districts could be hit hardest, where geographic isolation and lower salaries already make it difficult to attract domestic applicants.
High Fees Impact Recruitment
Even before the new policy, sponsoring a teacher on an H‑1B visa could cost districts roughly $15,000 to $20,000 annually in legal and administrative fees, AP reported. The new six-figure fee could prompt some districts to reconsider hiring international teachers entirely.
"The $100,000 H-1B visa fee creates a significant barrier for rural districts operating under tight budgets. Costs at that level make it impossible to continue staffing our classrooms with the teachers our students, families, and communities depend on," Aguillard said.
"The fee is actively dismantling one of the only long-term solutions rural districts have found to address persistent teacher shortages. Without access to programs like H-1B, many rural districts are already failing to staff classrooms and maintain the programs that help our children succeed."
Differing Views From The Front Line
A spokesperson for Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools told Newsweek that the new H‑1B visa fees are not significantly affecting their district, since most of the international teachers they hire are already in the United States.
Christi Jackson, partner at Laura Devine Immigration, told Newsweek, "Many public school districts rely on H-1B teachers to fill persistent shortages in subjects such as STEM, bilingual education, and special education. The $100,000 fee will likely make that pipeline financially unrealistic for most districts, and similar concerns are being raised across sectors which depend on international talent."
Matthew Dunn, co-head of the business immigration practice at HSF Kramer, told Newsweek, “The new H-1B fee will have a substantial effect on many school districts nationally. There are a shortage of educators in many school districts, both in large cities and in rural communities. To fill the gap, the district recruits from around the world to fill these positions, and they rely on the H-1B visa program to facilitate the educators' move to the U.S. The implementation of a $100,000 fee will cripple school districts' ability to source these skilled educators.”
Heidi Sipe, superintendent at the Umatilla School District, told Newsweek, "In our rural district, we utilized the program for the first time last school year. We had two stellar teachers from Spain join us and we were hoping to be able to keep them for multiple years. Unfortunately, between responsibilities in Spain and the uncertainty of the Visa program, the decided to return to Spain. We didn't pursue the program opportunities again given the uncertainty and potential increased expense. Thankfully, we were able to find teachers to fill the key math and science roles they had vacated."
Jason Richwine, resident scholar at the right-wing Center for Immigration Studies, told Newsweek, "I would say that the impact on public schools of the new H-1B fee will be very minimal. There are 3-4 million public K-12 teachers in the U.S. If the NEA estimate of 2,300 H-1B holders in public education is accurate, then that is less than one-tenth of one percent of the teacher workforce. Furthermore, it appears that a large portion of those 2,300 work in large urban districts, not hard-to-staff rural areas."
"If fewer H-1Bs work in teaching due to the higher fee, that may actually be good for public schools and the communities they serve. It would incentivize schools to adopt differential pay for the most in-demand teaching subjects, and it would open up solid middle-class jobs for Americans."
The Legal Challenges
In December, a coalition of 20 states filed a lawsuit challenging the policy, arguing that the increased cost would effectively block school districts from recruiting international teachers and worsen existing staffing shortages. The lawsuit contends that public schools, which operate on tight budgets, cannot absorb such a large fee without diverting funds from other educational needs.
A Democratic lawmaker has introduced legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives seeking to roll back new restrictions on the H‑1B visa program implemented under the Trump administration.
Education groups warn that without a stable pathway for international educators, rural districts already facing chronic teacher shortages could see those challenges intensify.
In February, a Republican lawmaker proposed a new bill in Congress that seeks to permanently end the H-1B visa program, which allows U.S. companies to hire foreign workers in specialty occupations.
Representative Greg Steube, a Florida Republican, introduced the legislation, called the Ending Exploitative Imported Labor Exemptions (EXILE) Act. Steube cited concerns that the H-1B program prioritizes foreign labor over U.S. citizens, saying that American workers, including young professionals, are being displaced in the workforce.
“Prioritizing foreign labor over the well-being and prosperity of American citizens undermines our values and national interests,” Rep. Steube said in a press release.
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