Global Trade Alert

In 2012 the state legislature of Tennessee enacted a law (Chapter 879 of the 2012 Tennessee Public Acts) that, effective July 1, 2012, restricts the hiring of foreign teachers by charter schools in that state. A charter school is a private educational institution at the primary (i.e., pre-college) level. More specifically, the law provides in relevant part as follows: A chartering authority may disapprove a charter school application, if the proposed charter school plans to staff positions for teachers, administrators, ancillary support personnel or other employees by utilizing or otherwise relying on non-immigrant foreign worker H1B or J1 visa programs in excess of three and one-half percent (3.5%) of the total number of positions at any single school location for any school year. The bill was enacted without the consent of the governor, as the state's attorney general had raised questions regarding its constitutionality.