Md. county agrees to pay $4M to foreign teachers

UPPER MARLBORO, Md. – The public school system in Prince George's County, Md. has agreed to pay $4 million to reimburse more than 1,000 foreign teachers it hired and required to pay fees the school system should have handled.

The teachers, most from the Philippines, were hired under a visa program for foreign workers. A Department of Labor investigation found the teachers were illegally required to pay fees that should have been covered by the Washington-area school system.

The labor department announced the agreement with the school system Thursday. It said that the school system will also pay $100,000 in penalties and be barred for two years from hiring more foreign teachers. The school system, Maryland's second-largest, said in a statement it was sorry it would not be able to hire foreign workers.