Union meeting with Filipino teachers raises questions - baltimoresun.com: The Baltimore Teachers Union has waged an aggressive campaign to win support for a landmark contract to be voted on Wednesday, sometimes addressing concerns of specific interest groups in an effort to bridge the more than 400-vote gap that led to an earlier defeat of the agreement.
But one of those meetings has raised questions among some who attended. Earlier this month, union officials held an information session with about 300 Filipino teachers. During that meeting, teachers also asked questions that led to discussions about the school system's efforts to assist international teachers with immigration applications and expedite visas to secure U.S. citizenship.
Union officials said the session was no different than others it has held with teachers in 198 schools across the city.
'There were some meetings where we didn't even talk about the contract; we said, 'Let's talk about what you need,'' said Aileen Mercado, a member of the union's executive board who is Filipino.
Rogie Legaspi, president of the Filipino Educators in Maryland, acknowledged that a strongly worded invitation he sent may have contributed to a misunderstanding about the intent of the meeting.
