Patrick Overton once said – When we walk to the edge of all the light we have and take the step into  the darkness of the unknown, we must believe that one of the two things will happen… There will be  something solid for us to stand on or we will be taught to fly. The plight of Filipino Teachers in the  United States is not that easy. The bitterness of leaving loved ones behind is a reality that every Filipino  craving for a greener pasture can never be concealed. But only those who pushed through with their  dreams succeed because of the anticipation that failures become a detour in their journey. 

The difficulties in finding American teachers to work in the classroom paved the way for school  districts in the United States to be more creative and innovative in recruiting teachers overseas. Lured  by the American dream, Filipino teachers enjoy the sunny skies, the spring, summer, fall and even the  snow in the winter as they occupy the schools desperately in need.  

Despite the qualifications every Filipino teacher possesses, the inevitable debarment of Prince George's  County Public Schools from the H1B program in 2011 took place thus displaced many of them and  called the need to form a National Filipino American Teachers organization that offers immediate  assistance. PGCPS is no longer capable of sponsoring hundreds of teachers due to their non-compliance  of wage requirements and various conditions for visa issuance. This results in a huge number of displaced  Filipino teachers in search of new workplace all over the United States. This led to the organization of the  Maryland and Washington DC teacher’s group. The organization took a vital role in recommending  remedies and conducted an information drive of school vacancies to Filipino teachers in need of school  placements and a number of those were able to find job in neighboring states. The growth of the  association became inevitable. In August of 2012, seven chapters joined namely; North Texas, Los  Angeles, Louisiana, Florida, Arizona, North Carolina, and eventually South Carolina, an online election  officers was conducted to have a unified body to oversee the chapters in December of 2012. The vision  of Mrs. Paraluman G. Castaneda was materialized and became the founding chairman. On the other  hand, Ronie L. Mataquel from New York City was unanimously elected to be the organization’s first  national president. In July of 2013, Deputy Consul General Maria Teresa De Vega inducted the officers  during ‘its Gawad Parangal sa mga Guro in Astoria World Manor in Astoria Queens New York.  

On March 21, 2014, the UNITED FEDERATION OF FIL-AM EDUCATORS INC. (UNIFFIED) was  incorporated in New Jersey City and became a duly recognized 501c3 non-profit organization in the  United Sates. UNIFFIED was born and Chapters was springing up like mushrooms, New Jersey, 

Sacramento California and Vicinity, Los Angeles – Orange County, New Mexico, Bay Area, and  recently the Massachusetts Chapter was formed and started activities geared towards teacher  development, community service and recognized outstanding Fil-Am teachers. 

One remarkable accomplishment of the organization is to provide guidance to displaced teachers in  their self-petition papers in order to continue working in the United States school system. One of the  many beneficiaries of this initiative is Lynne Ciocon. The other outstanding works of UNIFFIED are Paaralan sa Embahada in Washington DC, the Adopt-A-School project that provided project  development sessions to students and teachers including provision of school materials. Likewise,  numerous families became recipients of the “Roof-Over Their Head” project during typhoon Haiyan  and the “Feed a Child, Build a Community” feeding program. UNIFFIED also donated a classroom in  South Cotabato, a water well pump and hand washer for students in a remote elementary school in  Mindanao. The eight-year old organization partnered with OWWA in 2016 in the Salindunong  Program (sharing or Knowledge) with NRCO and the Department of Education that has sustained  the participation of various schools including the SPIMS beneficiaries in Region 4-A. UNIFFIED  continues to implement these projects in selected areas of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao despite  limited resources.  

UNIFFIED held its 4th International Educators Summit in Koronadal City, South Cotabato, Philippines  on August 4-6, 2017 with the theme “Unifying Filipino Educators with One Vision: UNIFFIED  Philippines” and open its membership to Filipino Educators. In August 9-11, 2019, the 6th International  Educators Summit was held in General Santos City. Prior to this date, UNIFFIED Philippines was  issued a Certificate of Incorporation by the Securities and Exchange Commissions.  

This year UNIFFIED awarded 10 teachers with Php 5,000.00 grants of school supplies and donated at  least 5 laser printers to selected schools in the Region 2. It also conducted professional developments  in various places in the Philippines and recognized more than 200 outstanding educators in the  Philippines and hundreds of teachers all over the world. 

At eight (8), UNIFFIED is dubbed as the youngest and the largest Filipino American Educators  Association in the United States, a multi-service 501(c3) and SEC registered organization which aims  to provide educators professional growth opportunities and promote mutual support and cooperation  with other local, national and international organizations in which the organization is associated to  educational and civic services through worldwide programs and projects.