For Immediate Release:
January 5, 2021
Contact: Matt Baca — (505) 270-7148
Santa Fe, NM—Attorney General Hector Balderas announced today that his office has
sued Total Teaching Solutions International, and its CEO Janice Bickert. TTSI and Ms.
Bickert have been engaged in recruiting teachers from the Philippines to teach in New
Mexico school districts. However, TTSI charged exorbitant and excessive fees for the
placement services they offer and in some cases failed to provide. TTSI charges
approximately $15,000 for services. Several other companies operating in the State of
New Mexico that provide nearly identical services on average charge $4,000 per teacher.
“NM has a critical teacher shortage, and it is vital that recruitment of incoming teachers
not be used to exploit teachers that are lawfully supported by school districts,” said
Attorney General Balderas. “I will continue to fight to make sure those coming to New
Mexico to teach our children are protected from predatory businesses.”
Once in the United States, TTSI forces teachers to pay previously undisclosed additional
fees, and sign additional refinancing contracts. When the teachers inevitably were unable
to pay the exorbitant fees, they were threatened with lawsuits, which TTSI and Ms. Bickert
ultimately filed against them.
