I'm going to assume that its a true statement that they couldn't fill the positions locally.

When my wife was accepted to hard core science graduate school in another state I was happy to follow her.

Teaching without adequate resources, kids with problems I had no means of solving, was the most difficult job I ever had, and I've had some really really shitty jobs.

Teachers who survive in that environment are either saints or burn-outs.

My wife's sister is still teaching in such an environment and she's one of the saints.

I was drifting into that Nazi don't give a shit zone, I'm reading my paper, keep your butt in your seat, your mouth shut and maybe you'll pass. The bad teacher you remember. Idealism smothered.

I got lucky, my soul never died.

It's really hard to get qualified teachers to move here, where rents start aroung $2000 a month, and the leasing process is tedious and expensive: app fee; first & last; security; renters' insurance; and separate pet deposits and rent per month (like $50-$75 each pet per month). Most people/ companies won't rent to you if the rent is more that 1/3 of your monthly salary. Then, there's the moving costs, as well.

$68,400 goes farther in Sacramento, but it's still expensive. Plus, you need a car in Sac more than you do in SF. That's another expense.

As displacedtexan says, Sacramento is less expensive than the CA coast, but it's still more expensive than most of the country. But why would that be any different for a Filipina recruit? If the Filipina could get certified while incurring little or no debt, then it might make sense compared to someone who had to service a lot of debt. But I don't know how what the cost of higher education is in the Philipines: free, expensive, somewhere in between?

If the student debt is the answer, then that implies that the typical, newly-minted American special ed. teacher can't actually afford to work in the field.

India is another places from which teachers are drawn. Money isn't the sole reason some of it is working conditions and a lack of people with the training willing to work in those conditions.